The Obelisk is 12 Years Old Today

Posted in The Numbers on January 31st, 2021 by JJ Koczan

12

Happy 12th birthday to this weird, rinky-dink little project called The Obelisk.

I was not thinking longevity when I started this site, the first post going live on Jan 31, 2009 according to the oh-so-detailed-and-no-I-didn’t-make-it Wikipedia page. Maybe I should’ve been.

My first two years in college, I was in business school. I couldn’t hack it. I was more miserable than usual. Changed majors. When I had jobs, I worked in offices. I knew good people, but it always felt like I was pretending to be someone else. Putting on a costume of someone invested in making a boss more money, like it really mattered to me.

Even working for magazines. I had great times and took advantage of many awesome opportunities, but there was always a kind of nagging feeling behind it that I didn’t belong there. Apparently I belonged here.

I don’t think I’m giving away state secrets when I say this last one has been the hardest year running this site. It was the hardest year for everything. And I’m not the only one who’s greatly missed the connection to the ethereal that live music represents in my life, but knowing that doesn’t do much to get me through the afternoon. I haven’t been sick, if that even matters anymore — and I’m not sure it does — but I’ve watched as a global pandemic has reshaped our experience of art and culture, as well as things like work and interaction. Though honestly, I felt a little ahead of the game on that last part anyway. I was on the couch in my pajamas before it was cool.

It leads me around to what I want to say to mark 12 years of this site, and it’s what I always want to say: thank you.

As the roiling shitshow that was 2020 has given over to the only-slightly-different roiling shitshow that 2021 seems to be thus far, I want to emphasize how much your continued support of this work in progress means to me. Me. I am a person. My name is JJ. I live in New Jersey. Hi. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for every single read, share, like, comment, email, whatever it is. Thank you.

Thanks to my wife, The Patient Mrs., and to my son, The Pecan. Thanks to my mother and sister and mother in law, to Slevin and Behrang, and everyone else who at one point or another has allowed me the time to find myself in this. Thank you to the record labels, the promoters, the PR professionals, the bands, artists and fans who are like, “hey man you should check this out it’s rad okay thanks.” All of it supports this site. Thank you.

I’ll keep it short. I don’t know what 2021 will bring. Maybe by this time in 2022 we’ll all be back at gigs like nothing ever happened. Doesn’t seem likely, but that’d be cool. But in this mysterious and often troubling future, your ongoing support of this site means the universe to me. There are many, many days where it’s what gets me out of bed in the morning, and some days where I don’t even leave bed because I roll over at 4AM and post something for Europe from my phone.

But either way, this has become a deeply personal work for me, and from the depths of everything I am, I want to express my appreciation for your being a part of it.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
JJ Koczan

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Friday Full-Length: King Buffalo, Live at Freak Valley

Posted in Bootleg Theater on January 29th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

Live at Freak Valley is everything one could reasonably ask a live record from King Buffalo to be. Recorded in 2019 in Germany at the Rockpalast-captured Freak Valley Festival, which has become an institution unto itself in Europe’s heavy rock underground, packed full of outdoor summer fests as it may be, it found the Rochester, New York, trio of guitarist/vocalist Sean McVay, bassist Dan Reynolds and drummer Scott Donaldson supporting their 2018 sophomore full-length, Longing to Be the Mountain (review here), on tour in Europe. And they’re in top form. The 54-minute set pulls together tracks from the second album, their 2016 debut, Orion (review here), as well as the title-cut from earlier-2018’s Repeater EP (review here), and in the energy of their performance and how it melds with their emergent heavy psychedelic grooves, the fluidity in and between the songs, it is nothing less than graceful, and it demonstrates the mastery the three-piece have over the immersive sound they create.

A spoken introduction in German brings them to the stage, and they begin with “Sun Shivers” from Longing to Be the Mountain, starting with a shorter track to draw the crowd in, which seems to work if the captured response is anything to go by. From there, it’s all-in, with “Longing to Be the Mountain” back-to-back with “Repeater” in a gorgeous 25-minute meld of molten, weighted psychedelics. The sprawl King Buffalo establish on stage at Freak Valley is different from on their albums, but no less engaging, and that’s a testament to the band’s commitment to their aesthetic. That is, it would be easy for them to be a rawer band live than they are. Instead, the melodies are intact and songs are drawn together one into the next by improvised-sounding stretches of guitar effects or sort of mini-jams. Consider the way “Repeater” gives way to “Orion,” and the emergence of that recognizable guitar figure as the song itself starts. It is an invitation to those fortunate enough to be assembled in front of the stage watching and hearing the band, to come and take part in the proceedings, as much a journey inward as far-out.

That sounds like hyperbole and maybe it is, but fuck it, I don’t care anymore. Put the song on and listen to the patience in Donaldson‘s drumming KING BUFFALO LIVE AT FREAK VALLEYand Reynolds‘ bassline. Listen closely and you can hear someone in the crowd shout “fuckin’ beautiful!” at the end of “Orion,” and I can’t disagree, as Live at Freak Valley has given me a new appreciation for that song and how it’s obviously grown in the years since they released the album of the same name. But for, well, the rest of the thing, “Orion” would probably be a highlight, with McVay‘s communion with the constellation in the arriving-in-its-own-time first verse leading to the later surge that carries them out into a stop before “Kerosene” from the same record picks up with the drums starting ahead of the guitar, feedback announcing its coming before the actual howling begins. The tension there is palpable and that it gets paid off should be a surprise to no one who heard the album version, its second half working in stages to push through the finish with a winding but energetic pulse.

After due applause, they wrap with Longing to Be the Mountain closer “Eye of the Storm,” McVay saying beforehand that they’ll be hanging out by the merch area after the set. It’s easy to romanticize that idea now, right? Band plays a good show to a ready crowd, it goes out streamed live through one of Germany’s greatest rock and roll properties — that being Rockpalast — and then goes and sees friends new and old, sells some vinyl, some shirts, shakes hands, takes pictures, maybe watches some of A Place to Bury Strangers, who play next, and then probably eventually goes to find some food. It’s like something that happened in a different dimension and it sounds so simple. What the hell.

I’ll spare you the in-a-world-without-live-music-live-albums-are-treasure rant. You’re welcome. More even than that, what Live at Freak Valley does is give a look at the vitality of the band itself. They sound excited to be there. They’re playing like they’re excited to be there, and yet the songs aren’t egregiously fast. King Buffalo aren’t rushed in their delivery. They play through the material with, as noted, a masterful touch; one born of time spent doing exactly what they’re doing here — playing the set. The progression the band undertook between their first album and their second was no accident — they’ve communicated it to their listeners every single step of the way. From Orion to Repeater to Longing to Be the Mountain, the band cast off the trappings of being strictly heavy blues or strictly anything else. Psychedelic, progressive, thoughtful, melodic, heavy, spontaneous — all that and more carried across in the material of Longing to Be the Mountain, and it comes through on Live at Freak Valley as well. Shit, they end with a jam. A jam! What more could they possibly do to signal that the story goes on from here?

And it does. Last year, amid canceled tours and plans upended, King Buffalo issued their Dead Star EP (review here), which showed not only a more meditative aspect of their sound, but a branching out into the realms of atmospheric and dramatic synthesizer as well. What does all that portend when it comes to an awaited third full-length? I have no clue, and likewise I have no clue how spending a year off the road will affect their style or their approach in the studio, because of course these things feed off each other. All of this we’ll have to wait to know, but that the anticipation to do so even exists is evidence of how crucial a purpose Live at Freak Valley serves, not just in bridging the gap between one release and the next — though that too — but in giving a showcase to the depth and multifaceted nature of the band’s evolution. Long may it continue.

As always, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading.

Another week where I could feel my mind shrink and my ass expand. I’m just trying to get through the days at this point. I don’t even have a reason why. I just want to go to bed, put the pillow over my head, and wake up three times and push the alarm back until I finally just give up and sleep as late as I can. That’s around 7 or so when The Pecan is up. He’s back in school now. Two cases of the plague among the staff this week. They’ll shut down again, I’m sure. Probably a day after he’s used to getting on the bus again. That seems to be how it’s timed thus far. Yes, I take it personally. I take everything personally. It’s fucking called narcissism. Look it up.

Speaking of me, I was doing myself a favor with the King Buffalo pick up there. Feel like I’ve been writing about a lot of live records lately but of course there are a lot to be written about as bands try to keep momentum going between albums when they can’t tour, or want to take advantage of a Bandcamp Friday or want to remind people they exist or whatever it might be. I knew it was something I’d enjoy when I put it on and, sure enough, I enjoyed it. That’s a good band.

Anyway.

Next week is packed. Some of it you’ll give a crap about, some of it you won’t. Same as ever.

No Gimme show this week, though I turned in the playlist for next week already. It’s a weird one. Cool.

I wish you well. Hope you and yours are safe and healthy and all that. Don’t forget to hydrate.

Thanks for reading.

FRM.

The Obelisk Forum

The Obelisk Radio

The Obelisk merch

 

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Genghis Tron to Release Dream Weapon March 26; Video Posted

Posted in Whathaveyou on January 29th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

13 years and a singer and drummer later, Genghis Tron return with a new album. Their last record was 2008’s Board up the House, and they reemerge from hiatus as guitarist Hamilton Jordan and keyboardist Michael Sochynsky are joined by Tony Wolksi and Sumac‘s Nick Yacyshyn on drums. You bet your ass that makes a difference on “Dream Weapon,” the title-track of Genghis Tron‘s impending third long-player, out March 26 in a renewed collaboration with Relapse Records. You’ll hear more vocal melody than I think the band has ever employed in the new track, and yes, live drums to go with what would seem also to be programmed beats. Don’t expect to get a handle on everything happening your first time through. That’s just not how Genghis Tron have ever operated.

For reference, in addition to the video for “Dream Weapon” below — watch out if you’re sensitive to strobe/herky-jerky cuts — I’ve included the Bandcamp stream of Board up the House. Interestingly, their 2006 debut, Dead Mountain Mouth and their 2005 EP, Cloak of Love, don’t seem to be streaming officially anywhere. They’re on YouTube if you’re up for the minimal digging required.

I shared the “Dream Weapon” video on Thee Facebooks the other day, but here’s info from the PR wire:

genghis tron dream weapon art by trevor naud

GENGHIS TRON ANNOUNCE DREAM WEAPON; FIRST NEW FULL-LENGTH IN 13 YEARS

Share “Dream Weapon” Music Video

Dream Weapon is out March 26, 2021

Pre-Order & Watch “Dream Weapon” HERE: https://orcd.co/genghistrondw

GENGHIS TRON make their return with their highly anticipated new album, Dream Weapon! The band’s first new studio outing in over a decade, GENGHIS TRON’s Hamilton Jordan and Michael Sochynsky are now joined by two new collaborators: vocalist Tony Wolski and Sumac/Baptists drummer Nick Yacyshyn.

Together, the lineup perfects the unique mix of extreme rock and electronic music GENGHIS TRON has pioneered over their storied career. A melding of hypnotic rhythms and densely layered synth soundscapes, Dream Weapon was recorded and produced alongside long-time collaborator Kurt Ballou at God City Studio in Salem, Massachusetts, with additional production and engineering by Ben Chisolm (Chelsea Wolfe) JJ Heath (Rain City Recorders) and was mastered by Heba Kadry.

Watch GENGHIS TRON’s new “Dream Weapon” music video, directed by Mount Emult (Dying Fetus, The Pixies) AT THIS LOCATION.

Dream Weapon is out March 26, 2021 on CD/LP/Digital. Physical pre-orders via Relapse.com are available HERE. Digital Downloads/Streaming are available HERE.

GENGHIS TRON recently reissued their two full-length albums Board Up The House & Dead Mountain Mouth on vinyl for the first time in over 10 years. Orders are available at http://relapse.com/genghis-tron.

Artwork by Trevor Naud

Dream Weapon Tracklist:
Exit Perfect Mind
Pyrocene
Dream Weapon
Desert Stairs
Alone In The Heart Of The Light
Ritual Circle
Single Black Point
Great Mother

Lyrically and conceptually, Dream Weapon picks up where Board Up The House left off.

“That album’s closing track, ‘Relief,’ was about how humans have become a burden to the planet, and how Earth will endure long after we’re gone,” Hamilton Jordan explains. “There is sadness at the end, but some relief—and beauty—too. Dream Weapon is, loosely, an album-length meditation on that theme.”

From the ethereal, almost robotic vocal phrasings accompanying the industrial attack of “Pyrocene,” to the chaotic, pulse-pounding drumming acrobatics and cyclical guitar patterns in the album’s triumphant title track, Dream Weapon is not just a nod to GENGHIS TRON’s celebrated past as a metal/progressive/experimental outfit. The new album redefines what these genres, sounds, and musical elements can achieve. Dream Weapon is a record that captures GENGHIS TRON at a matured, focused state; the ebbs and flows of the album are just as hard-hitting as they are dreamy, soaring, and meditative.

Seasoned GENGHIS TRON listeners will find Dream Weapon to be both excitingly fresh and reassuringly familiar. “Though it sounds a bit different than our previous albums, I don’t think we approached Dream Weapon any differently than the others,” Jordan explains. “Michael and I take years to write and trade demos, with about 80% of our ideas landing on the cutting-room floor. Once we have a rough song idea we both like, we write dozens of drafts of a song over months before we end up with a final demo.”

“I think one difference in our approach for this album was that we had a strong sense from the outset of what kind of vibe we wanted to create,” Sochynsky adds. “Something more cohesive, meditative and hypnotic.”

Through the album’s inventiveness and rejuvenated approach, Dream Weapon marks another bold step forward in the wildly creative career of GENGHIS TRON, and cements the band’s legacy of groundbreaking, genre-defying innovation.

https://www.facebook.com/GenghisTron/
https://www.instagram.com/genghis.tron/
https://twitter.com/GenghisTronBand
https://genghistron.bandcamp.com/
http://www.relapse.com
http://www.relapserecords.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/RelapseRecords

Genghis Tron, “Dream Weapon” official video

Genghis Tron, Board up the House

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Cortége Premiere “Chasing Daylight (Part 1)” from Chasing Daylight

Posted in audiObelisk on January 29th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

cortege

Austin-based duo Cortége are set to release their new EP, Chasing Daylight, through Desert Records on Feb. 26. Comprised just of its two-part title-track, it’s their first offering through the label and the follow-up to 2019’s Capricorn (discussed here), which, like several of the band’s outings, skimmed the line between EP and full-length. Chasing Daylight, running 16-plus minutes, makes it somewhat easier.

It feels cliché almost to the point of rudeness to call Cortége‘s style “cinematic.” But there it is. Sorry. On a level of observational depth, you might as well call it “sound.” Cinematic is the point. I don’t think you break out the tubular bells unless you’re going for a particular kind of atmosphere, and Chasing Daylight indeed nails that atmosphere, with the first of its two parts shorter at 7:22, but reaching voluminous heights and almost minimalist lows in a sprawl that’s vaguely Western with the ringing guitars, but nonetheless carries an undercurrent of l0w-end synth that gives the central procession of the rhythm — CORTEGE CHASING DAYLIGHTslow, slow, slow in patient form from a band who’s done this before — a particularly foreboding feel that’s also vaguely futuristic.

The Morricone of Tomorrow, Today? Maybe, but there’s more going on than just that as “Chasing Daylight (Part 1)” surges to its finish and the opening melody of “Chasing Daylight (Part 2)” nearly veers into “Silent Night” as it unfurls. The synth, initially more forward, recedes behind the guitar line that in another context would recall Bell Witch, and Cortége make their way into an even more barren stretch, barely keeping time with bells and drums likeminded in their funereal vibe. The payoff is ambient, more drift than burst, and that’s just fine as the hypnotic aspect of all that lurch would feel cheap if they swapped in a big finish for its own sake. As it is, “Chasing Daylight,” the whole work, almost seems to ask for a third part, the brevity of the two pieces included here leaving room to be expanded upon.

Whether or not that’s something Cortége have in mind, of course I’ve no idea. You can stream “Chasing Daylight (Part 1)” below, and for being (roughly) half of the total outing, it gives a sense of what the two-piece are up to with the EP, and where they might head from here.

Please enjoy:

PRE-ORDER: https://cortege.bandcamp.com/album/chasing-daylight

Post-Western, heavy ambient doom duo Cortége has signed to New Mexico’s Desert Records. The label will release the band’s new EP Chasing Daylight February 26, 2021 on CD and digital formats.

Recorded, mixed and mastered in the fall of 2020 with Jeff Henson (DUEL) at Red Nova Ranch in Austin, Texas, Chasing Daylight is a cinematic, chrome tinged portrait du temps for the end of the world as well as a musical foreshadowing of things to come. Lush arrangements wind through the familiar Cortége territories of drone, prog, doom, western and ambient soundscapes with a few surprises therein, including a guest appearance from Michael St. Claire on brass.

Album cover art comes courtesy of Steven Yoyada.

Cortége are:
Mike Swarbrick: Bass VI, Moog, Mellotron, Tubular Bells
Adrian Voorhies: Drums

Cortége on Thee Facebooks

Cortége on Instagram

Cortége on Bandcamp

Desert Records on Thee Facebooks

Desert Records on Instagram

Desert Records on Bandcamp

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Nick DiSalvo to Release LP From Solo-Project Delving

Posted in Whathaveyou on January 29th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

Delving — also stylized all-lowercase: delving — is a not the first side-project from Elder‘s Nick DiSalvo, as one might recall Gold & Silver‘s 2014 album, Azurite and Malachite (review here), prefacing many of the progressive turns that would soon be folded into Elder‘s work. As Delving begins to move toward its own debut, with DiSalvo working as yet unaccompanied in the band, one can’t help but look forward to what might manifest as he forgets “bands, fans and expectations,” and perhaps some of the pressures those things might place on the creative process. Sounds like a refreshing idea.

No audio yet, as the album was being mixed as of the start of this year, but it’s apparently already being pressed, as Stickman Records (also Elder‘s label in Europe) tells it:

delving nick disalvo

delving joins Stickman!

We’re happy to announce a brand new project from Elder guitarist/singer Nick DiSalvo, a (at the present) solo endeavor called delving. The debut album, recorded in December of 2020 at Big Snuff Studio in Berlin, is already in production and we’ll be announcing more details soon. From the horse’s mouth:

“I’m an almost obsessive songwriter, working on music every day and amassing a huge collection of song fragments and ideas that often don’t get the attention I’d like because of the time I spend with my main band. “Thanks” to this pandemic, I’ve had plenty of time to pick up some of the songs I’ve written over the past years and finally make an album that I’ve been telling myself forever I’d do.

From my earliest moments as a musician, I have been obsessed with home recordings, begging my parents for a Tascam 4-track cassette recorder for Christmas when I was 12 and making my own albums. delving is a continuation of this creative spirit: experimenting all on my own, forgetting bands, fans and expectations and making whatever music I want to.”

https://www.instagram.com/delving_music/
https://www.stickman-records.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Stickman-Records-1522369868033940

Elder, Omens (2020)

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Kadavar and Lucifer Team for Split 7″ Due in March

Posted in Whathaveyou on January 29th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

Kadavar and Lucifer will cover Fleetwood Mac and Dust, respectively, on a new split single to be released in March. Kadavar are set to take on “The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown),” while Lucifer will cover “Pull Away/So Many Times.” You might recall in the recent video interview with Kadavar‘s Lupus Lindemann, he mentioned this 7″ was happening, and indeed, it will be out through Kadavar‘s own Robotor Records imprint, as well as Lucifer‘s Riding Reaper Records. Seems a worthy cause for all to get behind.

Lucifer released their aptly-titled third album, Lucifer III, last year through Century Media, so I don’t know if putting this out through Riding Reaper means they’ve parted ways with that label or what. Lindemann discusses the amicable split with Nuclear Blast Records in that interview, and it makes for a good story about how Robotor came to be in time to release the audio from their two livestreams and last year’s The Isolation Tapes (review here) studio album. If you get the chance. If not, I won’t be offended.

No preorders yet, but let’s assume that’s coming, as well as audio of one or the other if not both tracks:

lucifer kadavar split

Lucifer X Kadavar Split 7″

We’ve got a brand new collaboration to announce: Kadavar and Lucifer are teaming up for a limited split 7“. Both bands dug through their records and chose a classic track to cover. KADAVAR recorded a version of “The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown) by Fleetwood Mac and on LUCIFER‘s side, you´ll hear “Pull Away / So Many Times” by Dust. Limited to 1500 total with 5 different color options, Robotor Records and Riding Reaper Records will sell 750 records each through their web stores starting March 2021! We´re stoked for this project and will share more info very soon!

check: www.robotorrecords.com and sign up for our newsletter!

https://www.facebook.com/robotorrecords/
https://www.instagram.com/robotorrecords/
https://robotorrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.robotorrecords.com/

Kadavar, Interview with Lupus Lindemann, Jan. 14, 2021

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Bog Wizard Sign to The Dregs Records

Posted in Whathaveyou on January 28th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

Fresh off the announcement of their impending split with Dust Lord, and even fresher off doing a livestream a couple days ago, Michigan’s Bog Wizard have signed to newcomer Boston-based imprint The Dregs Records. It’s not yet known what they’ll be putting out through the label, but the band’s debut long-player, From the Mire, came out in 2020, and a reissue of that or some pressing of a follow-up doesn’t seem out of the question, considering a long lockdown Michigan winter of writing new material and/or playing D&D, if it needs to be one or the other. And I’m not sure it does when it comes to these guys.

Anyhoozle, even without specific word of what’s coming, the fact that Bog Wizard will mark the first release for The Dregs Records brings an added level of intrigue, as it’s one of two planned offerings for the label in 2021. Whatever it is. Sometimes you see it’s kind of rough to go without info, but if all you take away from this is band-gets-signed and maybe listen to the album or check out the livestream below, I frankly wouldn’t consider that a loss.

The label posted the following on thee social medias:

bog wizard signing

Bog Wizard – The Dregs Records

“This is no ordinary mire, these wetlands are home to the Bog Wizard!”

Somewhere between a snort and a laugh your companion proclaims “Those are just local tales, to spook the-” You spin around feverishly. The lantern in hand gradually illuminating three shadowy figures where none had once been. The center and tallest of the three cricks it’s neck back to let out a banshee’s wail!! And that was the last that your memory can serve you.

I am super excited to announce that West Michigan’s Bog Wizard will be the first to join us at The Dregs Records. Last Sunday they were able to put down the dice and pick up the pen, binding us together to release some sludge soaked and doom covered riffage.
This was an incredibly easy decision to collaborate together. I have a long lasting love for D&D and tales of fantasy. Tied with their ability to combine sludge, doom, and stoner metal in fresh yet familiar ways.

“We’re excited to announce that we have officially signed with The Dregs Records and are looking forward to growing together with this partnership!” says the band. “Our fondness of both fantasy tabletop roleplaying games and doomy sludgy music made it an easy decision! We’ve got some big stuff planned with them for later this year, and we’ll be announcing it soon. Be sure to follow them to keep an eye out on future news!”

I can not wait till we can release more information to you all about this project. Make sure to follow the page so you don’t miss anything!

Bog Wizard is Ben Lombard (guitar/vox), Harlen Linke (percussion, synth, vox), and Colby Lowman (bass)

https://bogwizard.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/bogwizardband/
https://www.facebook.com/BogWizardBand/
https://www.instagram.com/bogwizardband/
https://www.youtube.com/bogwizard
https://bogwizard.bigcartel.com/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0mooueq4AqCcD9cZ6yfV2B
https://linktr.ee/thedregsrecords

Bog Wizard, From the Mire (2020)

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Cactus Flowers Premiere “Do You Want Me?”; Announce Solace EP out March 12

Posted in audiObelisk, Whathaveyou on January 28th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

cactus flowers

There’s swagger to spare on the first single from Cactus Flowers‘ impending four-song EP, Solace. Set to issue on March 12 through the band’s own People.Parties.Places. imprint, the release finds the Houston trio digging into classic heavy rock with no shortage of fuzz, and as guitarist/vocalist Jessica Murillo carries the melodic sway of “Do You Want Me?,” the Sabbathian touch of the central riff is granted an edge of garage grit that suits its purpose well. As the second cut on the 17-minute EP, it follows the accordingly sharp “Razor Blade” in bringing to mind the ’70s-fueled-but-modernly-deliver’d energy of Electric Citizen or some of Ruby the Hatchet‘s less psych declarations, but the swing of Mark Carcamo‘s drumming gives Murillo plenty of space to lead the proceedings, and thus it is that marching orders are given.

Solace follows behind 2019’s Incantations long-player. It would seem to mark the arrival of bassist Paul Chavez (also Funeral Horse/Baby Bird) in place of Chris Dunaway, but I’m not actually sure who’s playing on these tracks, if either of them, since Chavez is listed as a live member but played on the prior LP. Accept the mystery. As the EP unfolds in 10″ fashion, two songs per side, “Do You Want Me?” gives way after an imagined platter-flip to “Swimming Through the Sea of Mercury,” a duly nodding four-and-a-half-minute fuzzbath, leading to the starts and stops of “Dirty Double Vision,” which backs the attitude more rampant in “Razor Blade” and “Do You Want Me?” with another showcase of  grit-toned classic push behind a catchy structure. You can’t argue when it works.

The cover art is wild and rife with symbols for the staring. You’ll find that here, followed by PR wire info and the track premiere at the bottom of the post.

Enjoy:

CACTUS FLOWERS SOLACE EP-2000

Houston Psych Trio CACTUS FLOWERS Return with New EP | Stream Single ‘DO YOU WANT ME?’

Pre-order: https://cactusflowers.bandcamp.com/album/solace-ep

Formed in 2014 by guitarist/songwriter Jessica Murillo; drummer Mark Carcamo and bassist Chris Dunaway, there’s no question that Cactus Flowers’s star has been in the ascension for quite some time.

Since the release of their beguiling debut album Incantations in 2019, the Houstonians have continued to conjure, inspire and craft an irresistible identity around lush cadences, pedal soaked riffs, and Murillo’s impassioned vocals.

This March, the trio returns to the fold with their stunning new four-song EP, Solace. Recorded during a period of global impasse brought about by the COVID pandemic, and after shelving plans for a Spring 2020 tour, the band holed up with producer John Griffin (Wild Moccasins, The Ton Tons, Television Personalities) to capture a heavier, more compound style of psych, lyrical gallantry, and hard rock strut.

Mastered by Heba Kadry (Battles, Blonde Redhead, Slowdive), featuring striking artwork by Jaime Zuverza (Sugar Candy Mountain, Golden Dawn Arkestra) and with Baby Birds/Funeral Horse’s Paul Chavez taking over from Dunaway on live duties, Solace is an incredibly impressive chapter in the band’s ongoing voyage.

Solace by Cactus Flowers will be released on the People.Parties.Places label digitally; on neon green cassette tape and 10″ vinyl on 12th March.

“Our new EP is an extension of Incantations in as much as those songs were written in hope of conjuring a feeling or emotion,” says Jessica Murillo. “Solace was written to provide comfort or consolation through story-telling and melodies. Matchmaking lush fuzz tones with tales of angst and far out fantasies, we want it to be your next favourite soundtrack on good or bad days.”

Track Listing
1. Razor Blade
2. Do You Want Me?
3. Swimming Through the Sea of Mercury
4. Dirty Double Vision

People.Parties.Places.
Release Date: 12/03/2021
Formats: Cassette Tape/10″ Vinyl/Digital

Cactus Flowers:
Jessica A. Murillo: vocals, guitar
Mark Carcamo: drums
Paul Chavez: bass

http://facebook.com/cactusflowersband
http://cactusflowers.bandcamp.com
http://instagram.com/cactusflowersband

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