Kova Post Debut Single “Firça”
What we have here is a pretty clear case of “oops now you’re a band.” Let’s say you get three or four players together in a jam spot. Everybody’s got their own stuff going on besides — in the case of heavy psychedelic instrumentalist newcomers Kova, it’s reportedly members of Strider, Destroy Earth, Humbaba, Baba Sad, Godbud and Mens Rea, based in Ankara and Istanbul, Turkey — and nobody’s really thinking of adding to that. But then the jam starts, and one hour somehow magically becomes four hours, and at the end of it, it turns out they found something in each other, in the room, in the ether, and/or in the part of the brain where influences are stored and sonic conversation happens. All of a sudden someone starts talking about doing a show. Oops, now you’re a band.
There are various musical entities called Kova in Berlin, South Africa and Brazil, perhaps among others, but the Turkish Kova present their first single in the form of “Firça.” Carved from the initial get together, it’s raw in sound, but not so much as to be unreachable, and it follows an improvisatory course without either losing track of where it wants to go or just repeating the same parts for its entire 10-minute stretch.
So yes, it’s a 10-minute debut single. The appeal there — toward immersion — probably doesn’t need to be pointed out, but there it is anyway. The grit in the two guitars is a presence here, and I’m curious how Kova will proceed in unveiling their work from here, whether “Firça” — also stylized all-caps — is part of an album they will make after editing down more of the session from which this piece comes, or if the first single will standalone as the band look ahead toward booking their next jam.
Did you catch “band” in that sentence? They sure sound like one, anyhow.
From the PR wire:
In April 2024, four friends from Istanbul and Ankara — musicians from various stoner doom and heavy psych bands — came together and recorded a 4-hour, fully improvised session. We loved the results so much that we decided to release the music in parts throughout 2025 and occasionally reunite for live performances.
We’re excited to share our first single, FIRÇA, which will be released on January 10th.
Bandcamp: https://kovaheavypsych.bandcamp.com/
Art Work: Eda Gemicioğlu
Members:
Dehan Kılınçarslan – Guitar
Kıvılcım Çilingir – Bass Guitar
Mertcan Kabaş – Drums
Selçuk Çelebi – Guitar
https://instagram.com/kova_heavypsych/
https://kovaheavypsych.bandcamp.com/
