There I was the other day, riding down Rt. 10 in Hanover in the car by myself, bellowing along to what I believe the lyrics are to the crescendo part of Sandrider‘s new album, Enveletration (review here). It had been a frustrating week to that point and something about that buildup in “Grouper” just took hold of my brain stem and told it in no uncertain terms to turn up the volume just as the big riff hit loud enough for me to feel like it was a weighted blanket. It was cathartic. The week was still mostly shit, but at least I had about 40 decent seconds that day.

I’ve talked a fair amount about the electric jolt that Sandrider provide throughout the 10-song/36-minute release, and I think if you read this site on any kind of happens-more-than-once basis you know I have a tendency to read too much into good records. Well, listening to this fourth LP from the Seattle three-piece, who sound utterly at home in their ragers not like they’ve established dominance of their sound in some chestbeating 17th century masculine artistic ideal, but like that running start to “Circles” — there’s a video premiering below; I like the colors and it’s not too manic — is a celebration of itself, of shared creativity, of community, of the energy put into making it. I hate to tie anything to the pandemic or even think about it at this point, but even in comparison to 2018’s Armada (review here), Enveletration sounds like it’s making a break for it. Freedom and revelry. American heavy punk rock. Caustic sometimes, unafraid to be pretty, driven rhythmically as if by a motor.

And as they suggest, maybe part of that comes from being cooped up. Sandrider don’t sound like the kids who sat still, and in these songs — as recorded by the esteemed Matt Bayles, who’s helmed all Sandrider‘s LPs — the sense of ‘play’ is palpable. I haven’t seen a lyric sheet, but I’ve picked up odds and ends just from listening (I’ve never been particularly good at deciphering when left to my own devices), and don’t think the lyrical content is about radical self-affirmation and exploring the value of art as a collective experience, but I do think the end result is fueled as much by joy as aggression, if not more, and hearing that a long half-decade after their last album and three years post-lockdown trauma, it’s genuinely refreshing in a way heavy music can’t always be. Why can’t the next thing be to be happy we made it through?

And not to put too fine a point on it, but “Circles” into “Tourniquet” is also the best one-two punch Enveletration has to offer. Not the only one, either. “Tourniquet” into the taut fuzz and emergent shove of “Weasel,” “Ixian” into the aforementioned “Grouper,” hell, even the stop after opener “Alia” turns to the title-track helps the one flow into the next. Shifting through the melodies of “Slumber” and “Proteus” into the crunch of “Priest” — I swear to you I’m just having fun now. Really. The album is a blast. I don’t know how else to put it or why I’d say it another way. If this post is how you hear it for the first or the 15th time, that’s a win as far as I’m concerned.

The spinning skull goes flying in the clip for “Circles” below. I’ve also included the videos for “Alia” and “Enveletration” — and if they make another video, I’ll probably post it all again, too — and the Bandcamp stream of the full album because damnit I think it’s a thing worth hearing.

Enjoy:

Sandrider, “Circles” video premiere

Video Created by Tony Arechiga
Produced by Satanik Royalty Records
https://tonyarechiga.com/
https://tarechiga.artstation.com/

Recorded at Litho Studios in Seattle by Matt Bayles (Soundgarden, Mastodon, Botch), Enveletration proves that SANDRIDER’s adrenaline-charged fun and unconquerable spirit is yet again a sonic refuge where you’re temporarily invincible. Across its ten tracks, the record captures the utter relief SANDRIDER – guitarist/vocalist Jon Weisnewski (Akimbo, Nuclear Dudes), bassist Jesse Roberts (The Ruby Doe, Kid Congo Powers, Old Iron), and drummer Nat Damm (Akimbo, Head Like A Kite, Automaton, Tight Bros From Way Back When) – felt when returning to the practice space for the first time after a year of early-pandemic isolation and anxiety. The experience of waking their stacks of amplifiers from their dormancy, feeling the drums rattle their chests and the bass vibrate through the floor, and reveling in the indescribably euphoric return to writing music together in person is palpable. The end result is a nod to Seattle heavy-rock forefathers Soundgarden with their “break my rusty cage and run” attitude, mixed with the unrelenting, stage dive-off-the-bar energy of Refused and noisy noodling of Hot Snakes.

Enveletration is out now on Satanik Royalty Records on vinyl and digital formats. Find ordering options at THIS LOCATION: https://sandrider.bandcamp.com/album/enveletration

Sandrider is Jon Weisnewski (guitar/vox), Jesse Roberts (bass/vox), and Nat Damm (drums).

Sandrider, “Enveletration” official video

Sandrider, “Alia” official video

Sandrider, Enveletration (2023)

Sandrider on Facebook

Sandrider on Twitter

Sandrider on Instagram

Sandrider on Bandcamp

Satanik Royalty Records website

Satanik Royalty Records on Facebook

Satanik Royalty Records on Twitter

Satanik Royalty Records on Instagram

Tags: Enveletration, Sandrider, Sandrider Enveletration, Satanik Royalty Records, Seattle, Washington

This entry was posted on Monday, May 15th, 2023 at 10:54 am and is filed under Bootleg Theater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.