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The Heavy Minds Stream New Album Second Mind in Full; Out Tomorrow on StoneFree Records

Posted in audiObelisk on July 11th, 2019 by JJ Koczan

the heavy minds

The garage rock sneer really comes through on the bouncing second cut “Footpath to Fortress,” with its bluesy riff and overarching sense of attitude driving the vocals, but it’s there throughout Second Mind in some measure just about anywhere one might look for it. The seven-track/43-minute album is the sophomore effort from Austrian three-piece The Heavy Minds, and it sees release through StoneFree Records tomorrow, July 12. It follows behind 2015’s Treasure Coast (review here) and has apparently been in the works for some time, as the aforementioned track was released as a single in 2016. Fair enough. Launching with “Second Mind,” the songs feel duly worked on and take an immediately raw character without being abrasive, so that even as they build into the fuzzy roll of the title-track, its warmth is more welcoming than off-putting, and the bluesier, slightly slower “Footpath to Fortress” and the eight-minute “Heavy Load of Fools,” which is the only cut not in the five-to-six-minute range and spends much of its “extra” runtime doling out satisfying fuzz in the guitar of Lukas (also vocals) and the gotta-hear-it bass of Tobias in an instrumental jam held together by Chris‘ drumming.

I know it’s their second record and all, and especially with the four years between the two it’s not unreasonable to think The Heavy Minds would have a decent sense of what they’re doing in these tracks, but it’s striking just how purposeful even their most languid moments seem. That jam in “Heavy Load of Fools,” for example, ties perfectly into the proto-new wave rhythm the heavy minds second mindof “Spheres,” which touches on krautrocking prog without losing its funky underlying groove — again, that bass — and thereby shifts somewhat the narrative of Second Mind up to that point, adding character to the proceedings that make it all the more dynamic feeling when “Trip Tide” unveils its classic heavy rock swagger, tapping Stooges-via-Radio Moscow vibes with periodic echo bursts that call back to “Second Mind” and “Footpath to Fortress” while also setting up a dive into a bit of instrumental meandering that, unlike “Heavy Load of Fools,” makes its way back to the central riff before rounding out and swinging into the mix of the penultimate “Dystopia,” which boasts yet another smooth-rolling nodder groove with ambitions not toward the frenetic realms of boogie, but to a kind of nefarious intent just the same — it ain’t “lock up yer daughters” sleazy, but when Lukas breaks out the line “Welcome to my nightmare” late in the track, he’s definitely aware that he’s not the first person to say that.

And that awareness serves him and the rest of the three-piece well as they make their way into closer “Flight / Future Days,” which touches on ’60s it’s-gonna-be-alright optimism before making its way into subtly winding garage-isms, not quite a grand, overblown finale, which wouldn’t fit on an LP so otherwise given to a natural, live sound, but still with a due conclusive feeling in its melody. The bottom line there is the same message as much of the rest of Second Mind, and that’s that The Heavy Minds know what they’re doing. They’ve done the legwork in terms of songwriting, they’re properly schooled and properly driven to their craft. They’ve streamlined somewhat, pulling away from some of the more psychedelic aspects of Treasure Coast in its use of effects and percussion, etc., but being so grounded suits them well and still gives them plenty of space to explore. Second Mind finds them sounding like a band growing in complexity, and whether it’s four more years before they put out a third one or, in true garage fashion, they find a speedier release rate, The Heavy Minds give a clear sense of their direction in these songs, which are only more encouraging for that.

Full album is streaming below.

Please enjoy:

The Heavy Minds are a Garage-Psych–Band based in Upper Austria. Even though the idea of genre-boundaries is quite meaningless for the band, it would probably be most appropriate to claim that the boys are influenced by a huge musical melting pot of sounds of the late 60’s ‘n 70’s, Garage/Prog/Krautrock, Lo-Fi, Neo-Psychedelia and all sorts of underground rawness.

“Second Mind” was recorded between July and November 2018 somewhere in the outback of Upper Austria as well as in Vienna during some hot summer days. We tried to accomplish an honest, raw but also vital piece of music that speaks for itself.

The Heavy Minds on Thee Facebooks

The Heavy Minds on Bandcamp

StoneFree Records website

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