Posted in Whathaveyou on November 23rd, 2022 by JJ Koczan
UK prog-heavy rockers Boss Keloid have kept themselves busy the last year-plus supporting their Family the Smiling Thrush LP (review here), up to and including releasing a live-in-studio version of the record, and the thread will continue into the New Year as they’ve just announced a stretch of dates that will take them over to Ireland for a date in Dublin to start before they head north to Belfast and loop back to English soil to pick up in Newcastle. I have little sense of what the weather is like in March in the UK and Ireland, but if I was the betting type I’d say… moist and cold? There’s a chance that would be my bet for high summer as well, at least for some of where they’re going.
They’ll play with Elder Druid in Dublin and Belfast and Giant Walker throughout, about whom I am largely ignorant except to say that they’re doing shows with Boss Keloid in March. Not nothing, but given the company they’re keeping, clearly further investigation is due.
Boss Keloid announced the run on the ol’ social media thing:
BOSS KELOID – UK and Ireland Tour March 2023
We are pleased to announce: Boss Keloid UK and Ireland Tour March 2023.
Tour support comes from the brilliant Giant Walker and the awesome Elder Druid (Dublin and Belfast).
Big thanks to the fellow brother egg Tyler Hodges at Heavy Mountain Agency for nailing this all down for us.
Tickets on sale now (links below).
3rd March – Dublin – The Grand Social * https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/boss-keloid-tickets-466790802857
4th March – Belfast – Voodoo Belfast * https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/boss-keloid-tickets-466791384597
6th March – Newcastle – Anarchy Brew Co. https://tinyurl.com/5n9avw25
7th March – Sheffield – Record Junkee http://skiddle.com/e/36224194
8th March – Nottingham – Rough Trade Nottingham (Ticket link coming soon)
9th March – Bristol – Exchange https://www.gigantic.com/boss-keloid-plus-giant-walker-at-exchange-bristol-tickets/exchange/2023-03-09-09-30
10th March – London – The Victoria Dalston https://link.dice.fm/Qe7603c9c4a6
11th March – Manchester – Rebellion Manchester http://skiddle.com/e/36228397
* No Giant Walker
Boss Keloid are: Paul Swarbrick | Guitar Alex Hurst | Vocals and Guitar Ste Arands | Drums Liam Pendlebury-Green | Bass
Oh my breaking heart as we move into day seven of the Summer 2021 Quarterly Review and I am reminded that the wages of hubris are feeling like a dumbass later. I was loading up my laptop on Saturday — so pleased with how ahead-of-the-game I was able to stay all last week — when the thing decided it was gonna give itself some time off one way or the other.
I dropped it for repair about 20 minutes before the guy I’ve come to trust was closing shop. He said he’d be in touch on Monday. Needless to say, I’m on my backup cheapie Chromebook, reviewing off Bandcamp streams, eagerly awaiting that call which I can only hope has come in by the time this is posted. I’ll keep you in the loop, of course, but putting together the reviews for yesterday? That was not pretty.
I expressly thank The Patient Mrs., through whom all things are possible.
Onward.
Quarterly Review #61-70:
Geezer, Solstice
Geezer‘s ambition could hardly be clearer in their 17-minute “Solstice” jam. It was the Solstice — Winter 2020, to be specific — and the Kingston, New York, trio jammed. Guitarist/vocalist Pat Harrington (who doesn’t sing on the track) added some dreamy synth after the fact, and the affect is all the more hypnotic for it. Harrington, bassist Richie Touseull and drummer Steve Markota are no strangers to exploratory fare, as they showed on 2020’s righteous Groovy (review here), and as a Bandcamp Friday-era stopgap offering, “Solstice” brings a sampling of who they are in the rehearsal space, willing to be heavy, willing to not, ready to go where the music leads them. If Geezer wanted to do a whole full-length like this, I wouldn’t fight them, so you most definitely will not find me arguing against a digital single either. With jams this tasty, you take what you can get.
Issued less as a stopgap, which a digital-only single might normally be, than as a response to the band having lost gear in a practice space flood, the 8:52 single-song outing The Event Horizon was recorded at the same time as Spaceslug‘s late 2020 EP The Leftovers (review here) and in a way acts to bridge the melancholy beyond-genre push of that release with the more weighted, spacious roll that has typified the Polish outfit’s work to-date — their latest full-length was 2019’s Reign of the Orion (review here), and they recently finished a new one. So perhaps “The Event Horizon,” with its hypnotically languid rhythm and concluding drift, is a stopgap after all, but between helping the band recoup their losses and thinking of what might be coming next, it’s an exciting if not-unalloyed listening experience, and the three-piece move deeper into a signature sound even as they continue to bring the definition of what that means to new places.
Creating sometimes-scorching, droning psychedelic soundtracks to all your favorite classic sci-fi films that never existed, Kansas City’s Expo Seventy offer a call to worship for freaks and converted heads on their new album, Evolution. Still headed by guitarist James Wright as on late-2016’s America Here and Now Sessions (review here), the band offer new glories celestial and terrestrial instrumental chemistry throughout the six tracks (seven on the CD) of Evolution, lumbering away on “Echoes of Ether” only after floating in brass-section antigrav conditions on “The Slow Death of Tomorrow.” Can you hang? You’ll know one way or the other as the culminating duo “Second Vision, First Sight” and “First Vision, Second Sight” are done with you, having altered dimensions so thoroughly that the ethereal will either come to feel like home or you will simply have melted. In any case, lash yourself to it. Own that shit.
Peak-era Faith No More reborn in progressive heavy fuzz? What stoner rock might’ve been if it went to college instead of spending all that time hanging around talking about old cars? I don’t know where UK four-piece Boss Keloid ultimately stand on their admirable fifth LP, Family the Smiling Thrush — the follow-up to 2018’s also-well-received Melted on the Inch (review here) — but they most certainly stand on their own. Across seven tracks, the band careen, crash, lumber, rush and ponder — lyrics no less worth a close read than any other component — and from opener/longest track (immediate points) “Orang of Noyn” on, they make it abundantly clear that their style’s unpredictability is an asset, and that just because you might not know where they’re going next doesn’t mean they don’t. Melodic, complex and cerebral, there’s still a human presence here, a sense of a plan unfolding, that makes the album seem all the more masterful.
Though it’s ultimately less electric-kool-aid than endless-churning-abyss-with-psychdelic-saxophone-screaming-up-at-you-like-free-jazz-trapped-in-the-downward-tonal-spiral, Bong-Ra‘s four-tracker Antediluvian is duly experimentalist in being born out of the mind of Jason Köhnen, whose work on this project not only extends more than 20 years, but who has been a part of landmark Dutch outfits like Celestial Season, The Kilmanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble and The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation, among scores of others. The procession on this full-length, originally released in 2018 through Svart Lava, is wild times indeed, but immersive despite feeling at times like a litmus for how much you can take, with Köhnen‘s bass/keys/etc. and Balazs Pandi‘s drums meeting with Colin Webster‘s saxophone and Chloe Herrington‘s bassoon, willfully plodding through long-ish form improv-seeming movements of atmospheric heft creation.
A coherent and forceful debut full-length, Reek of the Parvenu quickly shows the metallic undercurrent from Athens-based four-piece Zebu on opener “The Setting Dust,” and pushes from there in groove metal fashion, taking some impulses from heavy rock but holding largely to a central aggressive stance and tension in the rhythm that is a backdrop even as the later “Nature of Failure” breaks from its chugging shove for a quieter stretch. That is to say, the next punch is always coming, and Zebu‘s blows are effectively delivered — looking at you, “Burden” — though some of the slower, sludgier cuts like “Our Shame” or the doomier finale “The City” bring a welcome atmosphere to go with the coinciding burl. I’m not sure if “People Under the Stairs” wants to kick my ass or crack a beer, but the songwriting is air tight and the thrashy threat only contributes to the immediacy of the release on the whole. They’re not screwing around.
It’s been 11 years since France’s Los Disidentes del Sucio Motel debuted with Soundtrack From the Motion Picture (review here), an engaging, kind of silly play on stoner rock and B-movie tropes. Beneath that, however, it was also a concept album, and the band — who now seem to prefer LDDSM for a moniker — still work from that foundation on their fourth full-length, Polaris. The difference scope and sonic maturity. Rife with vocal harmonies and progressive flourish, the 10-track answer to 2016’s Human Collapse (review here) smoothly shifts between the patient and the urgent, the intimate and the grand — and that’s in the first two minutes of “Blue Giant” alone — finding their way into a proggy post-heavy rock that’s too clearheaded to be psychedelic, but that balances the crunch of “Horizon” with a sense of the otherworldly just the same.
With their fourth long-player, guitarist/vocalist Anthony Gaglia and drummer Brady Maurer of Portland, Oregon’s LáGoon welcome bassist Kenny Combs to the fold and dive as a trio — their first three-piece outing was last year’s Father of Death EP — headfirst into murky riffing and heady heavy rock, made all the more spacious through cavern echo and the garage doom vocals Gaglia brings on the title-track, as well as the synth that surfaces on the subsequent interlude “Buried” and elsewhere throughout. The earlier “Beyond the Trees” is particularly bleak and otherworldly, but I won’t take away from the further-down procession of “Hill Bomb” and “The Slow Down” into “Final Ride,” the last of which closes out with scummer doom that’s familiar but distinct enough to be their own. There are moments on Skullactic Visions where, for as much as they could sound like Electric Wizard given the ingredients, I’m all the gladder they don’t.
Maha Sohona‘s second album comes some seven years after their self-titled debut, but who cares about time when you’ve got your headphones on and you’re surrounded by the richness of tone on offer throughout Endless Searcher‘s five rolling tracks? Heavy and laid back, the trio of guitarist/vocalist Johan Bernhardtson, bassist Thomas Hedlund and drummer David Lundsten finding some kinship with Polish three-piece Spaceslug in their post-Sungrazer blend of weight and flow, a jam like “Luftslot” nodding and conjuring depth even as it soars. Can’t argue with the quicker push of “A Black Star” or the purposefully straightforward “Scavengers” (where the title-line is delivered) but some of the mellow moments in opener “Leaves” and especially the building instrumental finisher “Orbit X” are even more satisfying for how effectively they move you place to place almost without your realizing it. I’ve got nothing for you if you can’t dig this vibe.
Keen observers will recognize The Bad Sugar Rush vocalist René Hofmann from his work with Wight, but the work here alongside guitarist Josko Joke-Tovic, bassist Minyeong Fischer and drummer Peter Zettl is distinct from that other unit here, even as the Humble Pie-esque “Push Me” and semi-sleeze “Liar” both have some shade of funk to their procession. Both cuts circa four minutes makes for a suitable debut 7″ with respected purveyor H42 Records doing the honors, and the results are an encouragingly catchy display of what a first full-length might accomplish when and however such a thing emerges. There’s classic heavy rock as the foundation, but more than outright ’70s worship — though some of that too — it’s the organic feel of the songs that leaves an impression on the listener, though the background singers on “Push Me” don’t hurt in that regard, certainly. An auspicious and intriguind first showing.
Posted in Questionnaire on May 20th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.
Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.
Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Alex Hurst of Boss Keloid
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
I make sounds and melody with my vocal chords and my guitar over twisting landscapes of music. I came to do this by meeting like-minded lovers of music and strangeness and having an urge to create.
Describe your first musical memory.
Watching my older brother’s band jamming in my mum and dad’s garage as a young kid. I think they were covering Nirvana ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ and it blew my tiny, young mind.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
Playing live and seeing someone singing the words you have written back to you with passion, it always gets me every single time and each time the memory becomes engraved in my brain.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
I don’t have any firmly held beliefs. I like to think I’m a very open minded person and I will always listen to someone else’s point of view before realising I was right all along… haha.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
It can only lead to greatness but that’s only if your artistic path is good in the first place of course.
How do you define success?
Success to me is happiness. If I’m happy and smiling then it’s a complete success as far as I’m concerned.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
I run a rehearsal studios and have done for the past 20 years in Wigan called Urbansound and one time I walked in on someone (who I knew) having sex in one of my rooms and I just happened to have a Henry Hoover in my hands at the time, it was a very awkward encounter.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
The greatest Dub Reggae album ever! It will happen at some point and it’s going to have vibes galore I promise.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
Making people buzz and provoking thoughts. Without art this world would be a dead planet.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
A proper get together at the Hurst palace of sound (my house). We did have these gatherings quite frequently before Mr. Covid came a-knocking.
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 12th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
The release details and unveiling of the first single from the upcoming Boss Keloid album, Family the Smiling Thrush — let alone the bevvy of preorder links — feels like an occasion worth marking, even if I’m a few days late on it. June 4 it’s out, as their debut on Ripple Music, fifth album overall (I had it as fourth previously) and the follow-up to 2018’s Melted on the Inch (review here). So be it. I haven’t even had a second to sit with the album — Boss Keloid require attention in the listening, or at very least they’re best enjoyed when given their due — or maybe I’m just nervous it’ll be really good? You ever feel that way? Like, oh no, what if this rules?
Sometimes it’s hard being a people.
Anyway, their video for the lead single “Gentle Clovis” — Clovis united the Frank tribes, which does not strike me as being an especially gentle process, but fair enough — is at the bottom of this post and there are UK tour dates as well because we all like a bit of optimism in our day.
So here goes:
Boss Keloid announce new album; release video for first single
New album Family The Smiling Thrush arrives June 4th via Ripple Music
First single ‘Gentle Clovis’ streaming now
British heavy prog-psych band Boss Keloid are back with their new LP Family The Smiling Thrush, to be released worldwide 4th June via Ripple Music. The band have also released their uplifting first single ‘Gentle Clovis’.
Vocalist Alex Hurst comments on the first single: “Gentle Clovis is is all about staying true to your roots and those parts of you which make you individual, whilst abandoning your ego when the greater good can benefit. It’s a song about family, friends and letting your strengths individually or as part of a collective flourish and carry you.”
Perhaps their most ambitious album yet, Family The Smiling Thrush demonstrates Boss Keloid’s biggest transformation to date. Entering a new realm which leans more towards the soaring majesty of monumental prog-rock whilst still embracing their metal edge, the album is a true masterclass in versatility. Seven towering tracks of emotional energy, psychedelic grooves and riff-oriented guitar work combine with the signature melodic yet passionate style that vocalist Alex Hurst has been tweaking and perfecting since their debut, Angular Beef Lesson, in 2010.
Produced and mastered by Chris Fielding at the legendary Foel Studios in Wales, the band entered the studio with a focus on gaining a clearer, more open sounding recording than ever before. The end result is a typically Boss Keloid gargantuan soundscape, littered with spacious jams and sticky grooves which twist and turn in euphonic harmony. Family The Smiling Thrush is their most attention-grabbing effort to date and only further cements their status as one of this era’s most interesting and vital bands.
Lyrically throughout Family The Smiling Thrush Boss Keloid explore the notion of the collective being greater than the individual, embracing all flaws and the strengths of each. Each song burrows deeply into areas such as community, communication, family, personal growth, mindfulness and positive inner reflection, inviting the listener to not only join but truly revel in the journey of being alive.
Family The Smiling Thrush track-list
1: Orang of Noyn 2: Gentle Clovis 3: Hats the Mandrill 4: Smiling Thrush 5: Cecil Succulent 6: Grendle 7: Flatt Controller
Dates of Boss Keloid’s 2021 tour as follows:
Aug 19 – Arctangent 2021, UK Nov 6- Damnation Festival 2021, Leeds UK Nov 18 – Headline Tour, The Anvil , Bournemouth, UK Nov 19 – Headline Tour, Boston Music Rooms , London, UK Nov 20 – Headline Tour, The Exchange, Bristol, UK Nov 21- Headline Tour, Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff, UK Nov 22 – Headline Tour, The Chameleon, Nottingham, UK Nov 23 – Headline Tour, Dead Wax, Birmingham, UK Nov 24 – Headline Tour, The Underground, Stoke, UK Nov 25 – Headline Tour, Mulberry Bar & Venue, Sheffield, UK Nov 26 – Headline Tour, Ivory Blacks, Glasgow, UK Nov 27 – Headline Tour, Opium, Edinburgh, UK Nov 28 – Headline Tour, Breadshed, Manchester, UK
Boss Keloid are: Paul Swarbrick | Guitar Alex Hurst | Vocals and Guitar Ste Arands | Drums Liam Pendlebury-Green | Bass
You can watch live videos from their Bloodstock Festival set and the full live session of their 2018 album Melted On The Inch, plus stream the band’s entire discography here:https://linktr.ee/bosskeloid
