Today brings the final two installments of All Them Witches‘ Baker’s Dozen singles series. The Nashville four-piece throughout 2022 have been issuing one song at a time on the last Friday of each month, and I guess rather than keep it going into January, they opted for a blowout. No complaints. Both cuts are available to stream in the videos below and are linked through to various digital outlets. I don’t know if they or the whole collection will make their way to Bandcamp or not, but it doesn’t seem unreasonable.

As they have all along, in this series and out of it, the band explore disparate ideas in sound in the last two Baker’s Dozen singles. “Mama is a Shining Star” is an initially-drumless, proggy wash of melody laid out across 10 minutes of psychedelic drone swells, woven violin, even some processed vocals, and gorgeous, true-to-title shimmer set to a procession that breaks past its halfway point to more minimalistic fare, holding a waveform pattern that hints at more until its eventual fade — the hidden messages delivered after the hypnotized state is induced. Their experimentalist side coming forward, satisfyingly as long as you don’t go into it expecting a hook or drummer Robby Staebler‘s restless shuffle, it recalls some of the loop-based movements on 2020’s Nothing is Real (review here), and is encouraging in its freeform style of further adventures to come.

“Real Hippies are Cowboys” pairs organ and pedal steel with layers of electric guitar and bass over its instrumental eight-minute stretch, which rises gradually out of initial lines of guitar and does have more of a full-band feel, drums and all. It’s not their first foray into twang by any means, but it does make a point of its delve into country-psych leaning more toward the one, then the other in its later reaches, while staying loyal to both sides before the jam shows itself out in fading fashion. If that’s to be the epilogue of Baker’s Dozen — 13 of 12, as it were — then the underlying message of All Them Witches remains consistent in their unpredictability. Throughout this entire series, one has never really known what’s coming next. For a band who’ve been around more than a decade now, have enjoyed more success and influence than most ostensibly ‘heavy’ acts in that time and have six full-lengths under their collective belt, that they can keep their audience guessing without sacrificing the quality of their work shouldn’t be discounted as a consideration. They keep winding up in new places, thankfully.

The entirety of Baker’s Dozen is streaming below in the various players. The last two songs are first, then the rest all the way back to January’s “Blacksnake Blues,” in suitably jumbled order.

Enjoy:

All Them Witches, “Mama is a Shining Star”

All Them Witches, “Real Hippies are Cowboys”

Mama is a Shining Star: https://allthemwitches.lnk.to/shiningstar

Real Hippies are Cowboys: https://allthemwitches.lnk.to/realhippies

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All Them Witches is:
Charles Michael Parks, Jr – bass, vocals, acoustic guitar
Ben McLeod – guitar, vocals
Robby Staebler – drums, vocals
Allan Van Cleave – Rhodes piano, keys, violin

All Them Witches, “Hush, I’m on TV”

All Them Witches, “Holding Your Breath Across the River”

All Them Witches, “Tour Death Song”

All Them Witches, “Tiger’s Pit”

All Them Witches, “6969 WXL The Cage”

All Them Witches, “L’Hotel Serein” official video

All Them Witches, “Acid Face” official video

All Them Witches, “Blacksnake Blues”

All Them Witches, “Fall Into Place” official video

All Them Witches, “Silver to Rust” official video

All Them Witches, “Slow City” official video

All Them Witches on Instagram

All Them Witches on Facebook

All Them Witches on Bandcamp

Not to take anything away from the odd bit of 18-minute jamming or languid bluesy psych me generally, but this one is an easy immediate favorite from All Them Witches‘ ongoing ‘Baker’s Dozen’ singles project that has found them posting a new track every last Friday of each month throughout 2022. The song reminds of the edge that was best about pre-nü metal ’90s rock radio — heavy alt vibes — and the title “Hush, I’m on TV” feels very much in line with the somewhat tongue-in-cheek view the Nashville-based once-again-four-piece have always seemed to have regarding their own success, up to and including a seemingly abiding skepticism of how that is defined.

Whatever they may think of the response they’ve garnered from a fanbase built up over the last decade-plus, All Them Witches continue to do that work and do it exceedingly well, distinguished among their generation and among the most reliable yet unpredictable active bands I can think of in the realm of heavy music, certainly of the last 15 years, if not longer. Their work is a thing to be appreciated, and their ability to be self-reflective without seeming indulgent or any more navel-gazing than their aural sarcasm wants to be is only pay off why.

Dig this one a lot. Dug the last one — the whole year’s worth are below — and will probably dig the next one. I think we get two more of these? Fair enough. Here’s number 11, Bettie Page and all.

Enjoy:

All Them Witches, “Hush, I’m on TV”

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All Them Witches is:
Charles Michael Parks, Jr – bass, vocals, acoustic guitar
Ben McLeod – guitar, vocals
Robby Staebler – drums, vocals
Allan Van Cleave – Rhodes piano, keys, violin

All Them Witches, “Holding Your Breath Across the River”

All Them Witches, “Tour Death Song”

All Them Witches, “Tiger’s Pit”

All Them Witches, “6969 WXL The Cage”

All Them Witches, “L’Hotel Serein” official video

All Them Witches, “Acid Face” official video

All Them Witches, “Blacksnake Blues”

All Them Witches, “Fall Into Place” official video

All Them Witches, “Silver to Rust” official video

All Them Witches, “Slow City” official video

All Them Witches on Instagram

All Them Witches on Facebook

All Them Witches on Bandcamp

At this point, Nashville’s All Them Witches have unveiled well more than an album’s worth of material with their ‘Baker’s Dozen’ singles project, releasing one new song (plus a bonus at some point, I guess) on the last Friday of every month, and as today brings the mellow psych-blues poetry reading and fuzz leads, loops and righteous meander of “Holding Your Breath Across the River,” it brings into relief just how broadly scoped their sound is. Some bands never put out the same record twice. Throughout 2022, All Them Witches have extended that ethic to the songs themselves.

They’ve spent much of October touring Europe, killing it on a bunch of sold out dates by all accounts I’ve seen on social media, and proceed with textured ambience in “Holding Your Breath Across the River” like it’s no big thing, guitar and synth drone that in most contexts would be enough to qualify as experimental here still just part of the backdrop for the telephone-effect mostly-spoken-word vocals that remind just how dug-in this band can be when they want.

I don’t know where they’re headed next, but I feel comfortable predicting that whatever Nov. brings from them, it, again, will be something different. Ergo, enjoy this one while it’s fresh.

Have to wonder by now if the band are planning some larger release for all these songs — you can stream the entire project so far below — even if it’s just putting them up as a collection on Bandcamp. I’ve bought one or two on Amazon over the course of the year to-date — and I don’t know if you’ve ever purchased digital music from that particular outlet, but it’s a terrible experience — but I wouldn’t mind giving it all a front-to-back listen I guess sometime early in 2023, perhaps. If I’m lucky.

In any case, peace out, October:

All Them Witches, “Holding Your Breath Across the River”

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All Them Witches is:
Charles Michael Parks, Jr – bass, vocals, acoustic guitar
Ben McLeod – guitar, vocals
Robby Staebler – drums, vocals
Allan Van Cleave – Rhodes piano, keys, violin

All Them Witches, “Tour Death Song”

All Them Witches, “Tiger’s Pit”

All Them Witches, “6969 WXL The Cage”

All Them Witches, “L’Hotel Serein” official video

All Them Witches, “Acid Face” official video

All Them Witches, “Blacksnake Blues”

All Them Witches, “Fall Into Place” official video

All Them Witches, “Silver to Rust” official video

All Them Witches, “Slow City” official video

All Them Witches on Instagram

All Them Witches on Facebook

All Them Witches on Bandcamp

Tonight, Nashville four-piece play Nottingham, UK, as part of a Fall UK/European tour that will take them through almost all of October. I mention it both because, well, they plug the tour with the link below and because the latest installment of their ongoing ‘Baker’s Dozen’ monthly singles project is called “Tour Death Song,” which, as you might guess, is also about touring.

It’s always seemed like All Them Witches have had a complicated relationship with being on the road. They’ve been at it since at least 2013 and they’re a professional band, so that’s how they make their money, by going places and playing. Obviously that’s been a rough economy for the last two years, and they’ve never pretended that it’s easy work, but as soon as stuff opened back up, All Them Witches were quick to get back out.

As they move through this year-long project, this would seem to be the most direct acknowledgment of the effect of lockdowns on the band, though I’ve listened through a couple times and I didn’t catch any lines about “hey we miss our families and personal lives so please buy a t-shirt,” and I somehow doubt they’d be so crass. Parks, who I’m just going to call by his last name since that’s how I think of him, features in the video playing acoustic guitar, and generally speaking is a better lyricist than that.

Like much of ‘Baker’s Dozen,’ it’s a moody vibe here, but it tips more toward the structured end of songwriting than some of the jammier fare that the series has wrought. As ever, All Them Witches sound most of all like All Them Witches. I very much hope to see them at some point soon. It’s been a few years.

Time flies:

All Them Witches, “Tour Death Song”

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All Them Witches is:
Charles Michael Parks, Jr – bass, vocals, acoustic guitar
Ben McLeod – guitar, vocals
Robby Staebler – drums, vocals
Allan Van Cleave – Rhodes piano, keys, violin

All Them Witches, “Tiger’s Pit”

All Them Witches, “6969 WXL The Cage”

All Them Witches, “L’Hotel Serein” official video

All Them Witches, “Acid Face” official video

All Them Witches, “Blacksnake Blues”

All Them Witches, “Fall Into Place” official video

All Them Witches, “Silver to Rust” official video

All Them Witches, “Slow City” official video

All Them Witches on Facebook

All Them Witches on Instagram

All Them Witches on Bandcamp

We’re eight tracks deep now into All Them Witches‘ year-long ‘Baker’s Dozen’ singles project, and “Tiger’s Pit” continues the band’s streak of offering something different each time out. Though that’s basically their thing anyhow, which makes it doubly impressive that I could’ve just as easily started out this post talking about how consistent they are and been no less correct.

I’m struck by the breadth of the production for “Tiger’s Pit,” as well as the heft of the tones that fill it, reminding and almost threatening how heavy the Nashville four-piece can be when they do choose — shout out to their 2019 single “1×1” (posted here) — but also that they are much more than just that. More song-based than some of the other ‘Baker’s Dozen’ pieces so far, certainly more straightforward than July’s “6969 WXL The Cage” — it had its own post but just stream it below in the giant block of videos-to-date — it follows a linear course and just kind of ends in a fade, but still leaves an impression through its verses and overarching clarity.

A new track every month has been a fair amount to keep up with, but it brings to light the creative scope of All Them Witches at this point and the trust they’ve engendered that they can basically go wherever they want and those who follow will follow. As for new listeners, well, there’s plenty to dig into, for sure, and so long as you keep in mind that they almost never want to do the same thing twice, you should be fine. Might want to go with a proper full-length, though, for initial digging. Still, if this leads to that somehow, all the better.

Watch out for tigers:

All Them Witches, “Tiger’s Pit”

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All Them Witches is:
Charles Michael Parks, Jr – bass, vocals
Ben McLeod – guitar, vocals
Robby Staebler – drums, vocals
Allan Van Cleave – Rhodes piano, keys, violin

All Them Witches, “6969 WXL The Cage”

All Them Witches, “L’Hotel Serein” official video

All Them Witches, “Acid Face” official video

All Them Witches, “Blacksnake Blues”

All Them Witches, “Fall Into Place” official video

All Them Witches, “Silver to Rust” official video

All Them Witches, “Slow City” official video

All Them Witches on Facebook

All Them Witches on Instagram

All Them Witches on Bandcamp

This is precisely the sort of thing I was hoping that All Them Witches‘ reunion with keyboardist/Rhodes pianist/violinist Allan Van Cleave wouldn’t preclude. The band’s 2020 album, Nothing as the Ideal (review here), will forever be a standout in their catalog for the fact that it was made as a three-piece with Charles Michael Parks, Jr. on bass/vocals, Ben McLeod on guitar and Robby Staebler on drums — and visuals, as always — and no one else. The Nashville-based outfit had kind of struggled since Van Cleave left, first trying to replace him with Jonathan Draper on 2018’s ATW (review here), then finally continuing on without a full-time fourth member at all. To their credit, they made it work.

Clearly they felt something was lacking — hence bringing Van Cleave back in — but in the interim, Nothing as the Ideal introduced the use of tape loops and ethereal effects sounds as a way of fleshing out the work of the guitar, bass, drums and vocals, and that brought an experimentalist backdrop for the songs that was legitimately unlike anything the band had done before. The new single “6969 WXL The Cage” answers whether or not such ideas are still fair game for All Them Witches in 2022 with a decisive yes. Marked by hypnotic electronic beats and manipulated radio-style voiceovers — there are a couple song dedications there — to give a sense that you’re driving along an empty highway, possibly at night, scanning through the FM wasteland and reconciling yourself to listening to the droning on about nothing just to have some human connection. Shout-outs and so on. What a wreck of a great idea is commercial radio.

“6969 WXL The Cage” is July’s installment of the Baker’s Dozen singles project the band has been doing since the start of the year. They’ve all been posted here before, but I’ll spare you the link dump. The videos are down below — there are six; can’t miss ’em — and as we plunge deeper into the second half of 2022, it’s refreshing to find All Them Witches doing so by breaking new ground for the band.

Watch out for snakes:

All Them Witches, “6969 WXL The Cage”

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Tour On Sale Now:
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All Them Witches is:
Charles Michael Parks, Jr – bass, vocals
Ben McLeod – guitar, vocals
Robby Staebler – drums, vocals
Allan Van Cleave – Rhodes piano, keys, violin

All Them Witches, “L’Hotel Serein” official video

All Them Witches, “Acid Face” official video

All Them Witches, “Blacksnake Blues”

All Them Witches, “Fall Into Place” official video

All Them Witches, “Silver to Rust” official video

All Them Witches, “Slow City” official video

All Them Witches on Facebook

All Them Witches on Instagram

All Them Witches on Bandcamp

Last Friday of the month. I’ll have you know I managed to have the back end of this post ready to roll out today and I still didn’t get it done in time to beat their email update saying the song had been released. If you’ve been keeping up with ‘Baker’s Dozen’ — the Nashville four-piece’s monthly singles project for 2022, all prior installments of which you’ll see streaming below — you’ll note that All Them Witches‘ latest single, “L’Hotel Serein,” is way more of a song than some have been, and accordingly, the video is more of a traditional video, showcasing the band at work in the studio, either on this track or others.

All Them Witches have been back on the road for a while now, and that’s great, and I’m somewhat curious what the future for the band holds as they move ahead reunited with Allan Van Cleave on keys and violin. I’m pretty sure they have their own workable studio, which might not be Abbey Road, where they recorded 2019’s Nothing as the Ideal (review here), but would be bound to produce something very much their own, particularly as at least Ben McLeod and Robby Staebler have engineering experience that I know of, which isn’t to say Van Cleave or Parks don’t, just that if they do I’m not aware of it. If you have a phone, you kind of have recording experience on some level. And no, not just because your phone is secretly telling corporations how much you like Oreos.

But the future of the band I’m interested in is their getting back to songwriting, and in that, “L’Hotel Serein” — of which Parks discusses the origin below, acknowledging quietly that, in French, it should be ‘l’hôtel,’ with the accent over the ‘o’ — is somewhat telling, at least in terms of vibe. As in there’s a lot of it. And for a cut that’s not much over four minutes long, what it accomplishes atmospherically rests easily alongside some of band’s longer recent jams.

Do enjoy:

All Them Witches, “L’Hotel Serein” official video

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Tour On Sale Now:
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All Them Witches is:
Charles Michael Parks, Jr – bass, vocals
Ben McLeod – guitar, vocals
Robby Staebler – drums, vocals
Allan Van Cleave – Rhodes piano, keys, violin

All Them Witches, “Acid Face” official video

All Them Witches, “Blacksnake Blues”

All Them Witches, “Fall Into Place” official video

All Them Witches, “Silver to Rust” official video

All Them Witches, “Slow City” official video

All Them Witches on Facebook

All Them Witches on Instagram

All Them Witches on Bandcamp

It’s the last Friday of the month, and if you’ve been keeping up throughout the year so far, you know that means All Them Witches have a new song as part of their Baker’s Dozen monthly singles project. This is actually the first month I’ve managed to remember before the song was actually posted, so I’ll pat myself on the back in having the back end of this post ready to go, and having now actually heard the thing, it’s 17-minute soan renders it as something of an EP unto itself. That, mind you, is not a complaint.

With Hammond organ pulsing alongside the guitar and a hooky groove that’s uptempo without trying too hard to sell itself to the listener, the mega-jam starts off fluid and stays that way for the duration. Robby Staebler, by this point in the band’s career, is a master of working around the central beat, so that even as the rhythm holds, he’s not playing the same thing necessarily every measure through. That makes the transitions in “Acid Face” even smoother, as it heads into Doors-style guitar spaciousness after about six minutes in and picks its way back up through spring morning pastoralia en route to ever more ethereal, improvibing (sic) hypnosis, active without too much going on, laid back without being boring. A jam to hang with for a while.

About 17 minutes, actually.

Until next month, then:

All Them Witches, “Acid Face” official video

allthemwitches.lnk.to/soon

Tour On Sale Now:
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All Them Witches is:
Charles Michael Parks, Jr – bass, vocals
Ben McLeod – guitar, vocals
Robby Staebler – drums, vocals
Allan Van Cleave – Rhodes piano, keys, violin

All Them Witches, “Blacksnake Blues”

All Them Witches, “Fall Into Place” official video

All Them Witches, “Silver to Rust” official video

All Them Witches, “Slow City” official video

All Them Witches on Facebook

All Them Witches on Instagram

All Them Witches on Bandcamp