Some of the tracks included on Indiana rockers The Heavy Company‘s new pun-titled tape, Uno Dose (or The Uno Dose, I’ve seen and referred to it as both at this point), have been floating around for most of this year. “What’s Eating Harry Lee?” showed up in a video back in January, and “State Flag Blues,” on which Geezer‘s Pat Harrington guests on slide guitar, appeared as a single as well, while “The Humboldt County Waltz” and “One Big Drag” — performed, as they put it, “more or less live” here alongside “What’s Eating Harry Lee?” on side one — come from 2013’s Midwest Electric full-length (review here). That can give Uno Dose something of a hodge-podge feel from one half to the next, but honestly, the band’s jams are so laid back and with the context of a release — being a tape EP — it barely matters. Far more important is what the three songs on side two seem to signify in terms of The Heavy Co.‘s overall direction.

Since their 2011 debut EP, Please Tune In… (review here), the trio — now comprised of guitarist/vocalist Ian Gerber, drummer Jeff Kaleth and bassist Michael Naish — have specialized in unpretentious, natural sounding heavy rock. What made Midwest Electric work so well was how the direction shifted more toward open-sounding jam-based material while maintaining the songwriting at the core of the debut. Uno Dose pushes further in both directions, the newer cuts on side two, “El Perdedor,” “State Flag Blues” and “New Song to Sing” grooving out laid back tonal warmth at a comfort level that only enhances the overall listening experience. In the case of “State Flag Blues,” Harrington‘s guitar adds a psych-blues flourish alongside Gerber‘s rhythm track and some surprisingly aggressive, socially-conscious lyrics working in themes of Indiana politics; a classic protest song given a tonal beef-up.

The instrumental “El Perdedor” before it sets up a smooth-paced, jammy vibe, and “New Song to Sing,” which closes out Uno Dose, unfurls a languid funk of starts and stops and grooves with just the slightest undercurrent of wah foreboding. A recording job by Kaleth captures some subtle layering, and a key change in the vocals finds Gerber tapping his inner Mark Lanegan for the bridge to a brief multi-layered solo, The Heavy Co. getting more complex even as they expand the breadth and cohesion of their jams, seemingly stripping their approach down to its most fluid elements. Their particular blend continues to impress even on the first half of the tape’s live renditions, and as they move forward from Midwest Electric I think we’ve just seen the beginning of where their explorations might carry them. In giving a glimpse of the work in progress, Uno Dose earns a hearty “right on.”

The Heavy Co., Uno Dose (2014)

The Heavy Company on Thee Facebooks

The Heavy Company on Bandcamp

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As I’ve tried not to do since I started making podcasts again, I kept away from a consistent theme this time around, but I wanted to at least get a blend of bands you’ve probably heard and bands maybe you haven’t. Of course the new Sleep was a given, and new cuts from Electric Wizard and Karma to Burn felt like they needed to be there as well, so they are. But there are a few corresponding inclusions of stuff I’ve been digging that I haven’t had the chance to write about yet — looking at you, USA out of Vietnam, Lewis and the Strange Magics and Deamon’s Child — and while I’ve no doubt you’re already down with those and the rest of what’s included here because you’re on it like that, putting them in here seemed a good way to feature them for anyone not yet exposed who might be interested in checking them out.

If that’s you, please enjoy. The second hour, as usual, is consumed by longer songs, but there are a few in the first hour as well (that Electric Wizard track is over 10 minutes, and the Sleep is close to it), but of the podcasts I’ve put together in the last few months, this one easily flows the best. It was pretty late as I was putting it together last night, so I had the headphones on and was working totally without distraction. I know it’s an unrealistic expectation to think anyone will be able to listen in that manner, but if you get the chance or if you don’t, I hope you have a good time.

First Hour:
Sleep, “The Clarity” from Adult Swim Singles Series (2014)
Electric Wizard, “I am Nothing” from Time to Die (2014)
Lewis and the Strange Magics, “Cloudy Grey Cube” from Demo (2014)
USA Out of Vietnam, “You are a Comet, You are on Fire” from Crashing Diseases and Incurable Airplanes (2014)
Serpent Venom, “Lord of Life” from Of Things Seen and Unseen (2014)
Deamon’s Child, “Lutscher!” from Deamon’s Child (2014)
Rabbits, “Reek and Ye Shall Find” from Untoward (2014)
Karma to Burn, “Fifty Seven” from Arch Stanton (2014)
The Heavy Co., “One Big Drag” from Uno Dose (2014)

Second Hour:
Wolf Blood, “Dancing on Your Grave” from Wolf Blood (2014)
Frown, “Harpocrates Unborn” from The Greatest Gift to Give (2014)
Merlin, “Lucifer’s Revenge” from Christ Killer (2014)
Causa Sui, “Incipiency Suite” from Pewt’r Sessions 3 (2014)

Total running time: 1:57:27

Thank you for listening.

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Indiana heavy blues rockers The Heavy Company have confirmed the details of their new tape EP, Uno Dose. The release, which was originally slated to appear in March — we all know how it goes sometimes — will be pressed to tape in limited numbers and made available this weekend at the Days of the Doomed IV fest in Cudahy, Wisconsin, where the trio will play the pre-show Thursday night with Spyderbone and Sons of Ghidora.

The video below for “What’s Eating Harry Lee?” was first shown here in January, but it shows the continually intriguing direction The Heavy Company have taken following their 2013 full-length debut, Midwest Electric (review here), laid back psychedelic blues balancing well with a heavier rock edge. If you can’t make Days of the Doomed IV, copies of the tape will reportedly be available through Ripple Music‘s Heavy Ripples distro afterwards.

Word from the band follows, sent down the PR wire:

From The Desk of The DPR:

The Heavy Co. would like a moment of your time if you don’t mind. Thanks.

The guys in The Heavy Co. wanted to let you know that they are putting out a tape just in time for their appearance at this year’s Days of The Doomed Festival. Yeah, a tape… as in a cassette. That’s hip, right?

This particular release is called Uno Dose and is a double EP. Side A was more or less recorded live in a big barn somewhere in the middle of a cornfield located in the Indiana country side and features the debut of a new composition called ‘What’s Eating Harry Lee?” for which THC released a companion video for a few months back. Also, there live versions of “The Humboldt County Waltz” and “One Big Drag” which were originally released on THC’s 2013 release, Midwest Electric.

Side B features two never before released studio recordings entitled “El Perdedor” and “New Song To Sing” and also a re-mixed version of their previously released single “State Flag Blues” which also features Pat Harrington of Geezer/Gaggle of Cocks/Electric Beard of Doom notoriety on slide guitar. It’s a pretty fun ride if you want to buy the ticket, but don’t take our word for it. As we say around The DPR: Please tune in…

Officially speaking, Uno Dose will be available on the band’s Bandcamp page June 24th but it might show up earlier. Guess you’ll have to be surprised. Copies of the cassette will also be available via Heavy Ripples Distribution shortly after. All of the tapes will come with digital downloads of the record or you can pay what you want for the digital download. Whatever you have to spend is awesome, but at least download it even if you are light on cheddar and share it with everybody.

If you have another spare minute, visit theheavycompany.bandcamp.com for past releases and give ‘em a “like” on Facebook.

The Heavy Company, “What’s Eating Harry Lee?”