Posted in Whathaveyou on August 16th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
You think you’re ready for a Yawning Man + koala bear photo op? Because you’re probably not. None of us are. The good news is we’ve got some time to steel ourselves for such adorableness before the Cali desert rock progenitors land in Auckland, New Zealand, in January, to begin what’s one of the most comprehensive Aus/NZ tours I’ve ever seen. Some bands pop over there for like four shows. Yawning Man are making it count. Fair enough. That’s a substantial trip, even from California. If you’re going to do a thing, do it right.
Already in 2019, Yawning Man have toured the US and Europe, and I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if they had more of that in store for 2020 as well, but starting the year off Down Under puts them in new territory where they’ve never been. Well over three decades after the band’s inception, that’s gotta be a trip for guitarist Gary Arce and bassist Mario Lalli, as well as drummer Bill Stinson. They go in support of 2019’s Macedonian Lines (review here) on Heavy Psych Sounds, and I don’t think there can be any question this is a major event in the existence of the band. I know they’ve done recording on tour before, but I have to wonder if they might have a couple days reserved for hitting the studio as well as the requisite sightseeing/koala selfies, etc.
If this one doesn’t make you feel good, check your pulse. I’ll go. Can I go?
Desert Rock pioneers Yawning Man will finally make a soaring flight to our shores for a long-awaited tour of Australia and New Zealand in January 2020.
Over the past 33 years (!!!), Yawning Man have released 7 studio albums and 5 split LPs/EPs and Brant Bjork once said that “Yawning Man is the sickest band of all time.”
Joining these Masters is Psych/Prog Numidia, who will support YAWNING MAN for the East Coast of Australia.
Friday 17th January Whammy Bar, AUCKLAND Saturday 18th January The Club Tavern Christchurch Sunday 19th January Valhalla, WELLINGTON Tuesday 21st January Heritage Hotel Bulli Wednesday 22nd January Transit Bar, CANBERRA Thursday 23rd January The Vanguard, NEWTOWN Friday 24th January Crowbar Brisbane, FORTITUDE VALLEY Saturday 25th January Bendigo Hotel, COLLINGWOOD Sunday 26th January Bendigo Hotel, COLLINGWOOD Monday 27th January Enigma Bar, ADELAIDE Thursday 30th January Amplifier Capitol, Perth Friday 31st January Indian Ocean Hotel, Scarborough Saturday 1st February The Den, Inglewood
[Click play above to stream Yawning Man’s Macedonian Lines in full. It’s out June 14 through Heavy Psych Sounds.]
Between 1986 and 2005, Yawning Man released no albums. Between 2016 and 2019, with the advent of Macedonian Lines on Heavy Psych Sounds, they’ve now released three. That debut outing was 2005’s Rock Formations (discussed here), and it helped lead the band toward not just the subsequent Pot Head EP, but also to the 2007 release of their demo tracks, The Birth of Sol (discussed here), and 2010’s sophomore studio album Nomadic Pursuits (review here), which launched what has unquestionably been the band’s most productive decade to-date. Solidified as the trio of guitarist Gary Arce (also Big Scenic Nowhere, Ten East, Zun, etc.), bassist Mario Lalli (also Fatso Jetson, Big Scenic Nowhere, etc.) and drummer Bill Stinson (Chuck Dukowski, etc.), Yawning Man has at last begun to capitalize on the incredible reputation that precedes them as one of the founding architects of Californian desert rock.
For the last several years, they’ve toured in Europe and — more surprisingly — the US, releasing a split with Fatso Jetson in 2013, Historical Graffiti (review here) in 2016 and last year’s The Revolt Against Tired Noises (review here), the latter beginning the alliance with Heavy Psych Sounds, to which Lalli‘s outfit Fatso Jetson are also signed. Arce, whose drifting guitar tone is as much a signature for Yawning Man as any band could have, has always been involved in a number of projects and continues to be, but a successive-year turnaround for Yawning Man full-lengths is simply unprecedented in the band’s 33-year history. Yet Macedonian Lines, with six tracks and an almost humble 31-minute runtime, offers not just a batch of new jams from a trio of nigh-unmatched sonic fluidity — somewhat ironic since, you know, the desert and all — but also a showcase of the potential that’s been in their dynamic all along, waiting, essentially, to be honed by the players involved. Stinson is not an original member, but he plays like one, and Lalli and Arce are, and the chemistry between the three of them, especially as it’s been honed on tour over the last few years, is at a new level in these songs.
And it’s appropriate, then, that the material throughout Macedonian Lines would find its root in live performances, coming together around jams from the last tour. Bookended by its two longest cuts in leadoff “Virtual Funeral” (6:49) and closer “I Make Weird Choices” (7:25), flows like a short live set, the three-piece building momentum as they move through the title-track and into “Melancholy Sadie” — presumably that’s as opposed to “Sexy Sadie” — as well as “Bowie’s Last Breath” and “I’m Not a Real Indian (But I Play One on TV),” all of which check in at under five minutes long. Being born of jams, it speaks to the band’s songwriting process that the finished products would end up on the shorter side, as Yawning Man seem to be moving toward an efficiency of delivery — five of the eight cuts on The Revolt Against Tired Noises were over five minutes — that, somewhat incredibly, doesn’t take away from the laid back spirit of the LP itself.
Especially with the memorable melody the guitar brings forth on “Virtual Funeral” accompanied by piano and Lalli‘s rumbling bass beneath, as well as Stinson‘s drums tying it all together, Macedonian Lines works quickly to immerse the listener in its atmospheric warmth, easing into “Macedonian Lines” with a speedier, winding guitar line that’s still very much in their wheelhouse before opening up to a broader progression, building and releasing tension in a way that even just a few years ago the band likely wouldn’t have done. It’s a different kind of awareness and engagement with the audience happening on Macedonian Lines, and the feel throughout is very much like a second album — which it is, of their tenure on Heavy Psych Sounds — in terms of how it builds on what The Revolt Against Tired Noises introduced idea-wise about who and what Yawning Man are as a group. Here, they offer gracefully expansive arrangements of guitar, bass and drums, setting their sights on open spaces and conveying not just the soul of the desert or some idea of what they’re expected to be, but of how they’ve grown and are still progressing as players. Matured and maturing still.
“Melancholy Sadie” is anchored by a bassline that lives up to the title, and the weight Lalli adds to “Bowie’s Last Breath” is likewise crucial, as he and Arce set up in a you-go-high-I’ll-go-low attack as regards frequency range with Stinson cutting through the tonal wash with a punctuating snare even as his crash adds to the methodical, patient patterning of the bass and guitar. Stinson is more than timekeeper, but he’s not an overly flashy player, and part of the reason he has come to fit so well in Yawning Man since joining in 2011 is he allows the string section room to breathe. The longer cuts emphasize this more, unsurprisingly, but even the march he brings to “I’m Not a Real Indian (But I Play One on TV)” resounds with purpose and continues the momentum into the serene beginning of “I Make Weird Choices,” a culmination with far-back keyboard flourish — though I’ll allow that could be guitar effects — that echoes the trance-inducing aspects of the opener even as it calls to mind more of a heavy post-rock feel in its quiet-loud tradeoffs, taking what might otherwise be verses and choruses and setting them up not in opposition to each other, but as complementary elements toward the same purpose.
The same essentially applies to the work of Arce and Lalli throughout Macedonian Lines, as they are two players with different mindsets who come together for the common end of defining Yawning Man‘s ultra-influential sound. Macedonian Lines, though ultimately brief, is a triumph of the cohesion between their two strong personalities, and a showcase of what has not only let the band survive their long tenure, but to do so in such a way as to be more vital now than they’ve ever been. I don’t know if Yawning Man will have another album out in 2020, or what their future will bring, but as they ascend to their rightful place in the forefront of desert rock consciousness, their ongoing progression seems bound to inspire yet another generation of players. As a fan, I hope they keep the momentum going.
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 18th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Yawning Man are working on a quick turnaround from 2018’s The Revolt Against Tired Noises (review here) to release their new LP, Macedonian Lines, in June on Heavy Psych Sounds, but listening to the album only confirms the experimentalist approach that’s let them do so. Exploring some moodier atmospheres with keys and their inimitable tones, the pivotal desert rock three-piece will use the long-player’s release as the launch point for a European tour in June, so the timing works on multiple levels. They’ve got a video posted for the title-track that shows some of where they’re coming from in terms of sound this time around, and it’s a twist on the established Yawning Man approach that’s made them so widely influential. Take a second and check it out.
Cover art and PR wire whatnot follow, as well as the preorder link, should you want to get in on that.
And you probably should:
YAWNING MAN share details + stunning video off new “Macedonian Lines” album on Heavy Psych Sounds; preorder available now!
YAWNING MAN continue to establish their exceptionally unique approach to rock music on the bands latest album “Macedonian Lines” (Heavy Psych Sounds Records). The follow up to the critically acclaimed “Revolt Against Tired Noises” shows a further maturing of melody, dynamics and emotion in the bands songwriting. Yawning Man’s roots lay at the foundation of the desert rock and stoner rock sub-genres, however the music the band creates is truly organic and visceral, conjuring a flowing imagery and a emotional response. On this release, the band has a darker and massively heavier sound than past recordings as most of these tracks were developed in live performance and then fully realized in the studio. YAWNING MAN returned to Gatos Trail Studio in the Joshua Tree CA desert to record this album and the space and beauty of the surroundings is ever present in every track. Heavy, beautiful, and delicate. Gary Arce, Mario Lalli and Bill Stinson continue to expand and dig deep with every track.
Mario Lalli (bass) says about the new record: “Macedonian Lines represents the spirit of this band beyond the sound and composition. All the elements of this song were created in live improvisations during Yawning Man’s last European tour. The band refined the ideas night after night in front of live audiences. By tour’s end, the composition is what your hear on the new LP…. truly organic. The title comes from the band’s experiences crossing the Eastern European borders during this turbulent time of refugee migrations and political discord, while the music tends to add beauty to these observations.
– 30 Test Press vinyl – 250 LTD Orange vinyl – 650 Yellow splatter/Purple/Red vinyl – Black vinyl – CD and digital
YAWNING MAN New album “Macedonian Lines” Out June 14th on Heavy Psych Sounds
TRACK LISTING: 1. Virtual Funeral 2. Macedonian Lines 3. Melancholy Sadie 4. Bowie’s Last Breath 5. I’m Not A Real Indian (But I Play One On TV) 6. I Make Weird Choices
YAWNING MAN LIVE: 13.06.19 Amsterdam | Melkweg 14.06.19 Achterhoek | Manana Festival 15.06.19 Liège | La Zone 16.06.19 Bristol | The Lane 18.06.19 Manchester | Rebellion 19.06.19 Glasgow | Audio 20.06.19 Coventry | The Phoenix 22.06.19 Tunbridge Wells | Black Deer Festival 25.06.19 Hamburg | Markthalle 26.06.19 Köln | Sonic Ballroom 27.06.19 Karlsruhe | Alte Hackerei 29.06.19 Vitoria | Hell Dorado 02.07.19 Barcelona | Rocksound 03.07.19 Bilbao | Satelite T 04.07.19 Bordeaux | Astroshøw Open Air 06.07.19 Leuven | Sojo 10.07.19 Cottbus | Zum Faulen August 11.07.19 Wien | Arena 12.07.19 Salzburg | Rockhouse 13.07.19 Erfurt | Stoned From The Underground 14.07.19 Pleszew | Red Smoke Festival 23.07.19 Munich | Free & Easy Festival 25.07.19 Breitenbach | Burg Herzberg Festival
YAWNING MAN IS: Gary Arce – Guitar Mario Lalli – Bass Bill Stinson – Drums
