When one thinks of Gypsy Chief Goliath, one thinks of Al ‘Yeti’ Bones, and when one thinks of Al ‘Yeti’ Bones, one thinks of burl. Across two decades of work in bands like Mister Bones, The Georgian Skull, The Mighty Nimbus and, briefly, Serpents of Secrecy, Bones has been the dude bringing the dudeliness to maximum burl factor. And yet, in “Stranger Desires” from Gypsy Chief Goliath‘s fourth album, Masters of Space and Time — due out Feb. 22 on Kozmik Artifactz — he takes a more melodic approach rather than bellowing out with the gruffness he’s shown in the past. A softer side? Not really with those riffs behind him, but what the band are doing with “Stranger Desires” is taking on more of a classic heavy rock sound than they’ve had in the past — even 2016’s Citizens of Nowhere (review here) kept up the thread — and as one can hear in the track below, it suits them well.

Of course, with six dudes listed in the lineup — curiously, only five appear in the photo above; an invisible keyboardist would also be a nod to classic heavy rock — as guitarists Dustin Black and John Serio, bassist Darren Brush, drummer Adam Saitti and key-specialist Mark Calcott join Bones in this revamped mission, it’s not just about the guitarist/vocalist positioned in the center of the stage. Gypsy Chief Goliath seem to be making this semi-departure as a group. On “Stranger Desires,” with organ running alongside the guitar, they tap into proto-metal in style while keeping to a modernist impact in terms of the production, and ’70s rock and ’80s metal collide with a fervent rhythmic push through a chorus that edges close to poppy in its affect. Make your way through the song two or three times and you’re going to start to hear some of the depth to it. The first listen? All about the change. The second? All about the hook. But one or two more and you start to hear weird things going on that are both exciting and new for the band.

I haven’t heard all of Masters of Space and Time, just this track, so I can’t comment on how well it might showcase the album as a whole, but Bones says in the quote below it’s a “fitting introduction,” so it may well be that this evolution is playing out across the entire offering. If so, right on. It certainly works here.

Please find “Stranger Desires” premiering in the lyric video below, followed by more info from the PR wire.

And please enjoy:

Gypsy Chief Goliath, “Stranger Desires” lyric video premiere

GYPSY CHIEF GOLIATH’s Al Yeti Bones offers of the single, “’Stranger Desires’ is a tune about strange times. Simple. Lyrically, without getting political, because that is not my forte, it’s just to be interpreted loosely as weird times we live in, and that’s it. What we seem to appreciate on a global scale in terms of needs; entertainment and mainstream media and how the two have been cross-pollinated to unglue a lot of information and dirty the lines between fact and fiction. Realistically speaking I guess it’s always been this way. Nothing is new there. The lyrics are vague regarding specific topics, as I would hate to offend anyone, as I’m Canadian and too nice of a guy. But the tune itself, is the first thing we’ve put out in a few years and I felt this would be a fitting introduction to the new album. It’s different than previous work, but I hope people dig it! Crank it!”

Kozmik Artifactz will release Masters Of Space And Time on LP, CD, and all digital services worldwide on February 22nd.

GYPSY CHIEF GOLIATH Live:

1/12/2019 Call The Office – London, ON w/ White Swan
1/25/2019 Dominion House – Windsor, ON
3/02/2019 Willie Johns Big Easy – Niagara Falls, ON
3/16/2019 Dominion House – Windsor, ON *record release show

GYPSY CHIEF GOLIATH:
Al Yeti Bones – vocals, guitars
Adam Saitti – drums
Darren Brush – bass
Dustin Black – guitars
John Serio – guitars
Mark Calcott – keyboards

Gypsy Chief Goliath website

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Gypsy Chief Goliath on Instagram

Kozmik Artifactz website

Kozmik Artifactz on Twitter

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Tags: Canada, Gypsy Chief Goliath, Gypsy Chief Goliath Masters of Space and Time, Kozmik Artifactz, Masters of Space and Time, Ontario

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 10th, 2019 at 10:06 am and is filed under Bootleg Theater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.