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Quarterly Review: Avon, The Discussion, Alms, Vessel of Light, Enojado, Mother Mars, Southfork, Gypsy Sun Revival, Valhalla Lights, L.O.W.

Posted in Reviews on April 2nd, 2018 by JJ Koczan

Quarterly-Review-Spring-2018

This is the part of each Quarterly Review when I begin to question my life choices. Otherwise known as ‘the beginning.’ I still haven’t decided if this is going to be a five-dayer or a six-dayer, but one way or another, between now and whenever it ends, at least 50 records will be reviewed in batches of 10 per day. It’s completely insane. Completely. Every three months or so I remind myself of this by doing it again, and every time it ends up being worth the insanity. I’ve no doubt that will be the case here as well, but looking across the next five days at placeholders where reviews need to be, well, yeah. It’s pretty insane.

So let’s go.

Quarterly Review #1-10:

Avon, Dave’s Dungeon

avon daves dungeon

Dave’s Dungeon is the second full-length from Californian desert rockers Avon, and with it they make their debut on Heavy Psych Sounds. Peppered with varied songwriting across alternately garage rocking cuts like “Yello,” “On Fire” and “Red Barn” (video premiere here), languid psychedelic excursions in “Space Native” and the subtly proggy “Hero with a Gun,” and the classic desert crunch of “Dungeon Dave,” “Mace Face” and “Terraformations,” the three-piece of vocalist/guitarist James Childs, bassist Charles Pasarell (also Waxy) and drummer Alfredo Hernández (ex-Kyuss, Yawning Man, etc.) have no doubt garnered attention due to the participation of the latter, but all three manage to leave their mark across the 10 tracks, particularly Childs. His English-accented vocals become a defining element in “Hero with a Gun” and “Yello,” and whether fast or slow, the rhythm section offers air-tight accompaniment. Straightforward in their approach but not without some flourish, Avon bring their own touch to the classic desert style and offer memorable songs in the process. Nobody loses.

Avon on Thee Facebooks

Heavy Psych Sounds website

 

The Discussion, European Tour EP

The Discussion European Tour Ep 2017

Issued to coincide with an initial string of Fall 2017 European shows, the aptly-titled Tour EP serves as the debut offering from The Discussion, and its five tracks mark the return of guitarist/vocalist Laura Pleasants, not heard from since the end of her prior outfit, Kylesa. With “A Gesture/Other Side,” Pleasants and company commune with post-rock and atmospheric stretch, where “Like Rain” and “Surf Jesus” channel New Wave and Blondie pop with an underlying heft of low end to add presence. Through it all, Pleasants’ vocals prove a patient and melodic element, and as “Before We’re Gone” brings in a moody krautrock sensibility and finale “Cuts Like a Knife” engages louder and more forward riffing in its final minute payoff, the message that The Discussion has only begun comes through loud and clear. Tour EP sounds like the beginning stages of a larger process of experimentation and creative growth, and one hopes it proves to be precisely that.

The Discussion on Thee Facebooks

The Discussion on Bandcamp

 

Alms, Demo Vol. 1

alms demo vol 1

Modern heavy rock groove meets classic metal guitar on AlmsDemo Vol. 1, which, as it turns out, is more of a sampler than an actual demo, comprised as it is of two rough mixes from the band’s forthcoming debut album. The result of this mesh on “The Offering” and “Dead Water” is somewhere between Uncle Acid swing and Iron Maiden twin lead work, and the five-piece do well immediately to own the combination and make it cohesive sonically. Traditional doom play more of a role in “Dead Water,” and the keys of vocalist Jess Kamen – joined by guitarist/vocalist Bob Sweeney, guitarist Danny McDonald, bassist Andrew Harris and drummer Derrick Hans – and while I don’t know what label it is that’s going to pick them up (I’d believe anyone from Ripple to Shadow Kingdom to Season of Mist, depending on how much they want to tour), but if these two songs are anything to go by, they’ll be lucky to get them.

Alms on Thee Facebooks

Alms on Bandcamp

 

Vessel of Light, Vessel of Light

vessel of light vessel of light

Collaborating between Ohio and New Jersey, Vessel of Light brings together vocalist Nathan Opposition of Ancient VVisdom and guitarist Dan Lorenzo of Hades. Their self-titled five-tracker EP (on Argonauta) melds bluesy metallic riffing with tales of murder and drugs on cuts like “Dead Flesh and Bones” (video premiere here) and its eponymous closer, which emphasizes a hook based around the lines, “LSD has got a hold on me/I wanna show you all the things that I’ve seen.” It goes like that. For Lorenzo, parts recall the groove he brought to short-lived heavy rock outfit The Cursed, but with Opposition’s lyrics and the periodic delving into harsher vocals, there’s a moodier and more aggressive edge to the songs that helps define the personality of the duo as a band. How often they’ll work together remains to be seen, they make a murderous introduction with this EP and there’s plenty of fodder here for further exploration should they get there.

Vessel of Light on Thee Facebooks

Argonauta Records website

 

Enojado, Mist and Thunder

enojado mist and thunder

German trio Enojado was founded by guitarist/vocalist Stephan Kieserling circa 2002, and though he’s been through numerous lineups since, with bassist/vocalist Thomas Schnaube and drummer Till Junker, he’s put together the band’s first release since their 2014 The Chain is Loose LP was issued by Setalight. At under half an hour and six tracks plus an intro, late 2017’s Mist and Thunder offers solid heavy rock songwriting with a straightforward approach bordering on the metallic in its tone but never quite departing a heavy rock context in rhythm, even in the starts and stops of “Notorious.” The obvious standout in heft is the seven-minute “Coma,” which seems to add weight to everything around it, from “The Truth About Gold” earlier to “I Saw the Sun,” which follows, and the finale in “Queen of Heaven,” which brings a quick payoff to the release and leaves a residual echo and drone/guitar minimalism for its last two minutes. Less derivative than it at first seems, Mist and Thunder might take multiple rounds to sink in, but proves worth the effort of a dedicated listen.

Enojado on Thee Facebooks

Enojado on Bandcamp

 

Mother Mars, On Lunar Highlands

mother mars on lunar highlands

It’s kind of rare for a band to sound like they’re making fun of their own music as they play it, and yet, “Lost Planet Airmen” from Mother Mars’ fourth full-length, On Lunar Highlands, does precisely that. The Aussie trio led by multi-instrumentalists Frank (drums, synth, Clavinet) and Paul (guitar, bass, synth, banjo-mandolin, keys) Attard – who also produced together – and featuring the bluesy stylings of vocalist Dave Schembri, did not make the 11-tracker a minor undertaking. Rather, at 69 minutes, it pushes through stoner boogie on “Thought it Best to Cut You Loose” and still has room for heady jams on extended pieces like “The Stalwarts of Stalwart Castle” (9:31), “Woodhollow Green” (12:55) and the penultimate title-track (8:35), which leads to the far-out banjo shenanigans of closer “The Heavy Hand of the Destroyer.” Needless to say, madness ensues. Interludes like “Bean Stalkin’” and “Bean Stalkin’ Again” and the experimental “The Working Mind of the Creator” add anything-can-happen flair, and the weirder On Lunar Highlands gets, the more it satisfies. It gets very, very weird.

Mother Mars on Thee Facebooks

Mother Mars on Bandcamp

 

Southfork, Through a Dark Lens

southfork through a dark lens
Two decades after their founding in 1997, Stockholm’s Southfork returned late last year with their first album since 2001’s Straight Ahead, the seven-track Through a Dark Lens, which itself is nearly five years in the making. Opening with its longest cut (immediate points) in the 7:59 “Already Gone,” the bass-heavy approach the band takes is indeed emblematic of an era now easily thought of as classic, but one could hardly call it dated for that. Rather, tracks like “Into the Deep” and “Tomb of the Mirror Men” flow easily from one to the next and the record reveals in the strut of “Seventosix” and the answer-back closer “Nowhere Gone” just why someone might put almost half a decade of effort into realizing it. Whether you remember Southfork’s original run or not, Through a Dark Lens offers immersive tone and songwriting and as Southfork have already followed it up with what seems to be a compilation release, it may signal a return to fuller activity on their part.

Southfork on Thee Facebooks

Southfork on Bandcamp

 

Gypsy Sun Revival, Journey Outside of Time

Gypsy Sun Revival Journey Outside Of Time

Production by Kent Stump (Wo Fat). Mastering by John McBain (ex-Monster Magnet). Released through Nasoni Records. Sure enough, the second album from Texas heavy psych rockers Gypsy Sun Revival, Journey Outside of Time, wants nothing for the quality of its associations and with the Hendrixian guitar work of Will Weise and the bluesy classic frontman approach of vocalist Mario Rodriguez, they earn that pedigree through and through. Tyler Gene Davis’ contributions on organ only further the ‘70s vibes on “To the Sky” before Weise takes a wah-soaked solo backed by Lee Ryan on bass and drummer Ben H., and the later two-part “Pisces” combines with closer “Departure” to create a thrilling jammed-out side B that takes the more structured craft of “Indigo” and catchy opener “Cadillac to Mexico” earlier and pulls them through an interdimensional haze that only does more to evoke the album’s title. Between Journey Outside of Time and Gypsy Sun Revival’s 2016 self-titled debut (review here), one is left wondering how long we’ll be able to think of them as a well-kept secret of Texas’ fertile heavy underground.

Gypsy Sun Revival on Thee Facebooks

Nasoni Records website

 

Valhalla Lights, My Gracious Highway

valhalla lights my gracious highway

There’s a commercial sense of clarity to Valhalla LightsMy Gracious Highway, which seems to have been originally issued by the band in 2016 but is being given a renewed international push. It’s a crisp 13-track/45-minute long-player, marked by solid songcraft and the forward performance of vocalist Ange Saul, who takes the place of departed original singer Phoebe Black, who passed away in 2015 just prior to guitarist George Christie, bassist Brent “Badger” Crysell and drummer Deon Driver – all formerly of heavy rockers FORT – entered the studio to record their debut release. Songs veer toward Queens of the Stone Age-style groove on “Hammer the Witch” and closer “Punk,” and there’s enough variety of mood between the brooding “Beautiful,” showcase centerpiece “The One” and “Darker Side of Love” and the all-go rockers “Rise Above,” “Crucify” and “Someday” to carry the listener through smoothly with an abiding sense of professionalism. Will be too clean for some listeners, but is largely inarguable in its execution.

Valhalla Lights on Thee Facebooks

Valhalla Lights website

 

L.O.W., Bones EP

low bones ep

Located in the northwest of Poland, the acronymic four-piece L.o.W. debut with the Bones EP, which hurls forth three extended works of extreme sludge led into by an atmospheric intro. The band – the lineup of vocalist Adam, guitarist Marek, drummer Witold and bassist Micha? belong to the post-Primitive Man sphere of viciousness, but “Tear Me Open” offers some respite in its closing moments, pulling back on the massive plunder and switching from guttural growls to spoken vocals. With just a touch of Electric Wizard swirl, “Almost Like God’s,” renews the onslaught, offering a break in its middle from the Eyehategod-style sway while saving its most brutal growl for last, and at just under 10 minutes long, the title-track rounds out Bones with bass and drums unfolding a progression soon topped by guitar noise that lets the listener know they’ve just entered another level of punishment. There are moments of impulse toward stonerism that show themselves in Marek’s guitar work, but the primary mission on Bones seems to be assault, and the band has no problem living up to that intent.

L.o.W. on Bandcamp

L.o.W. on Thee Facebooks

 

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Avon Premiere Video for “Red Barn”; Dave’s Dungeon Available Now

Posted in Bootleg Theater on March 14th, 2018 by JJ Koczan

avon

Much of the hullabaloo surrounding the release of Avon‘s Heavy Psych Sounds debut and second full-length overall, Dave’s Dungeon, has been about the trio’s connections to Californian desert rock. And fair enough. That’s Alfredo Frickin’ Hernandez they’ve got playing drums back there, whose pedigree not only includes stints in Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age but also Yawning Man and Brant Bjork‘s Ché trio as well. So, you know, fair enough as regards desert cred, even before you get to bassist Charles Pasarell having been in Waxy. They could pretty much play anything and an entire contingency of their audience would tag it as desert rock — and that’s not something the band necessarily shies away from.

To wit, the track “Red Barn” is about a venue in Palm Desert, CA, and album tracks like “On Fire,” “Mace Face” and even the semi-title-track “Dungeon Dave” hit that mark avon dave's dungeonstylistically as well. But there’s a dichotomy in what Avon do stylistically that comes in no small part from UK expat guitarist/vocalist James Childs, who isn’t without a desert CV of his own, including time in Vic du Monte’s Persona Non Grata with Hernandez, but who nonetheless brings a classic psych rock sensibility to “Hero with a Gun” and “Space Native,” while delving into garage rock vibing on “P51.” It’s true that from opener “Yello” through the finale of the six-minute “Was ist Los?,” Avon have their hook-driven, desert rocking impulses present and accounted for, but that’s hardly all that’s going on with Dave’s Dungeon, and it’s that sense of variety that ultimately distinguishes the album from the slew of Kyuss-family-tree groups looking to establish them in the supposedly lifeless span of a landscape that at least for the last two decades has only gotten increasingly crowded.

So what happens at the Red Barn — the cartoon video does the facade of the place justice if the pictures I found online — that’s worth writing a song about? Well, there’s a pool tournament, live music of course, booze being served, and it looks like the usual round of bar/venue this-and-that. What makes the place special? Honestly, I don’t know, as I’ve never been fortunate enough to go there, but it looks like a pretty hip spot — there’s somebody named JJ quoted on the site; it’s not me — and bands have written songs for decades about rooms that hold special memories, so I bet if you asked the members of Avon what it is in particular that inspired “Red Barn,” they might have an answer for you. Let’s try it:

Hey Avon, why “Red Barn?”

We’ll see if they answer and if they do, I’ll update the post. In the meantime, enjoy the video below, which is also a pretty good time.

Dig it:

Avon, “Red Barn” official video premiere

Avon Desert Rock launch into 2018 with a new LP called “Dave’s Dungeon’ and present a fun stop coarse animation video for Red Barn using sketches from tour to piece together a story from the California Desert scene and its key venues during the mid 2000s.

AVON is heavy rock trio formed in California by Alfredo Hernández (former Kyuss, QOTSA), James Childs (Airbus, Little Villains) and Charles Pasarell (Waxy). Their heavy desert rock is psychedelic, raw, melodic and meaningful. Their musical bond comes from years of playing in their respective bands often together in California’s desert cities, Los Angeles and on many European tours.

AVON are:
James Childs – Vocals/Guitar
Charles Pasarell – Bass
Alfredo Hernandez – Drums

Avon website

Avon on Thee Facebooks

Heavy Psych Sounds on Thee Facebooks

Heavy Psych Sounds website

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Avon Announce Details for Dave’s Dungeon; Album out Feb. 23; Preorders Tomorrow

Posted in Whathaveyou on November 16th, 2017 by JJ Koczan

avon

Oh, the radness. Sheer desert radness. If you want a sonic touchstone for Avon‘s Heavy Psych Sounds debut and second album overall, Dave’s Dungeon, I might at least on first impression point you to the bouncing desert jangle of Fatso Jetson‘s work in the ’90s when it comes to opener “Yello” or the rush of the sub-three-minute “Red Barn,” but that doesn’t at all account for the flute-laden acoustic psych of “Hero with a Gun,” the hypnotic repetitions of “Space Native” (are those sampled seagulls I hear?) or the classic ’60s element that James Childs‘ British-accented vocals brings to the material overall.

I’m still making my way through the record as I write this, and it’s not out until Feb. 23, so there’s plenty of time for a proper review to take shape, but by way of an early heads up, I’m digging the hell out of it so far, the songwriting and performance is top notch and this one has the chance to be a real gem. So keep an eye out. Preorders start tomorrow.

The PR wire brings cover art and some more background on the tracks. Dig it:

avon dave's dungeon

Desert rock trio AVON share details about second album “Dave’s Dungeon” to be released on Heavy Psych Sounds!

California-based heavy rock trio AVON (with ex-Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age drummer Alfredo Hernandez) unveil all details about their upcoming sophomore album on HPS Records in February 2018.

AVON is heavy rock trio formed in California by Alfredo Hernández (former Kyuss, QOTSA), James Childs (Airbus, Little Villains) and Charles Pasarell (Waxy). Their heavy desert rock is psychedelic, raw, melodic and meaningful. Their musical bond comes from years of playing in their respective bands often together in California’s desert cities, Los Angeles and on many European tours.

Recorded in Los Angeles and produced by James Childs, “Dave’s Dungeon” boldly follows debut LP “Mad Marco”, and showcases the band’s evolution towards more rawness, defiance and certainly packing a punch. The group is on fire! “Yello” kicks off the album clearly showing the band’s roots in punk rock delivered with an “in your face” clarity. Meanwhile, “Terraformations settles you into a machine-like “robot rock” ride, telling stories of human conquest and immediately providing the listener with classic Hernandez drumming and Childs’ distinctive guitar style, bound with solid bass riffing from Pasarell. Next in line is a more in-your-face yet personal punk track about gigging at the “Red Barn”, a famous venue in the Californian desert. “Hero with a Gun” shows the band’s talent for dreamy instrumentation, melody and production, conjuring thoughts of California on the big screen.

“Mace Face” is a pure heavy rock Avon standard that will delightfully punch its way through your heart! Side two explodes with “P51”, killer Maiden-style shredding and harmonics giving a frenzied picture of the classic American fighter aircraft. Kicking back in the desert with “Space Native” and realizing how big and lost one can feel, only to snap right back to reality with “On Fire”, agreeing to disagree in a nod to some schoolboy led heroes. “Dungeon Dave” obviously refers to the album title, and represents a very special, almost utopic place for the band when they were on tour in Europe. The album comes to a close with just three words: “Was ist Los?”, performed with their unmistakeable space rock style that will surely be a classic Avon mantra, simply meaning – what is wrong?

“Dave’s Dungeon” will be issued on LTD Solid Yellow vinyl, Black vinyl, CD and digital formats. Vinyl and CD pre-orders will be available from November 17th on Heavy Psych Sounds website.

AVON New album “Dave’s Dungeon”
Out February 23rd on Heavy Psych Sounds
Pre-orders start November 17th HERE

TRACK LISTING:
1. Yello
2. Terraformations
3. Red barn
4. Hero With A Gun
5. Mace Face
6. P51
7. Space Native
8. On Fire
9. Dungeon Dave
10. Was Ist Los?

AVON are:
James Childs – Vocals/Guitar
Charles Pasarell – Bass
Alfredo Hernandez – Drums

www.avonway.com/
www.facebook.com/Avonband/
https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUNDS/
www.heavypsychsounds.com

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