Cool mix of bands taking part in the first-ever From Spliff to Riff fest this October in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The Alternative Gallery will play host to the event, and it’s worth noting that the top two acts on the bill — Solace and Electric Horsemen — are both relatively recently reformed. NJ chaosbringers Solace have been playing out sporadically since 2015 and earlier this year they released their first single since 2010’s A.D. (review here) in the form of the limited cassette  Bird of Ill-Omen (review here), which so far as I know has only been available at shows. In addition to headlining at From Spliff to Riff, they just topped the bill at the first NEPA Heavy-Psych-Doom fest in Stroudsberg, PA, and they’ll take part in the first Descendants of Crom festival in Pittsburgh this September as well.

Electric Horsemen, meanwhile, announced they were back just this past February. They posted a previously-recorded single and set about playing locally in the Eastern Pennsylvania region, and should be right at home at The Alternative Gallery in the company of fellow PA-based acts like Highburnator, Lord Crow, Green Meteor, The Stone Eye and Mudbucker, as well as Black Hand, who will come north from Delaware to play.

Pretty strong group of locals to inaugurate what will hopefully become a yearly tradition. Here’s the lineup info and links as posted on the Thee Facebooks event page:

From Spliff To Riff Fest

OCT. 21

The Alternative Gallery
707 N 4th St, Ste 103, Allentown, Pennsylvania 18102

First annual “From Spliff To Riff Fest”

8 bands, 2 stages, a full day of heaviness in the heart of downtown Allentown at The Alternative Gallery! More details to come, but for now, just chew on this lineup!

SOLACE (NJ)
http://www.facebook.com/SolaceBand/
ELECTRIC HORSEMEN (PA)
https://www.facebook.com/electrichorsemen/
HIGHBURNATOR (PA)
https://www.facebook.com/highburnatorband/
LORD CROW (PA)
https://www.facebook.com/lordcrowriffs/
GREEN METEOR (PA)
https://www.facebook.com/greenmeteor/
BLACK HAND (DE)
https://www.facebook.com/BlackHandMarksYou/
THE STONE EYE (PA)
https://www.facebook.com/TheStoneEye/
MUDBUCKER (PA)
https://www.facebook.com/mudbucker/

https://www.facebook.com/events/209122586283542/
https://www.facebook.com/thealternativegallery/

Solace, “Indolence” live at the Brighton Bar, June 24, 2017

Indeed, seven years. Seven years and a week, if you want to go by the last time I wrote about Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, sludge rockers Electric Horsemen. The occasion was a review of a split they had out with Count von Count (review here), and that was the last I heard from the offshoot of heavy rockers Black Cowgirl until a couple days ago. As it turns out, Electric Horsemen last month posted a single called “Milk Coma.” It was recorded back in 2008, but you can hear it below and it neatly encapsulates the density that was at root in their appeal way back when.

I don’t know where they’re actually at with new material — they say below there are plans to record “sometime this year” — but they’ve got a couple shows booked in Eastern PA next week with Backwoods Payback, and, well, it’s just kind of cool thinking they might get back to it, all hot pickled eggs and whatnot.

Confession time: I’ve never had a hot pickled egg. Not sure I could hang. Mostly these days I eat protein bars and chicken caesar salads without croutons. Rock and roll, y’all.

The band sent this down the PR wire:

Electric Horsemen – Back from Hiatus

Lancaster County Pennsylvania’s Electric Horsemen is ending a 7 year hiatus starting with two shows in February with fellow Pennsylvanians and friends Backwoods Payback. The band founded in 2006 is hoping to get back in the studio to record new material sometime this year. The lineup includes 2 current and 1 former member of Black Cowgirl, former bassist Chris Casse, current bassist Wyatt Kring and vocalist/guitarist Ben McGuire as well as original Electric Horsemen drummer Barry Lupacckino.

The band made a reputation for themselves in the myspace era for playing feedback-laden Crowbar influenced-riffs and being the heaviest band to ever come from Lancaster County PA (there was no competition) as well as having the market cornered in hot pickled egg sales. They are back in action, heavier than ever and filling jars with hot pickled eggs in preparation for their return!

February 17 – The Alternative Gallery (Allentown PA) Electric Horsemen w/Backwoods Payback and more!
February 18 – REX’s (West Chester PA) Electric Horsemen w/Backwoods Payback and more!

https://www.facebook.com/electrichorsemen/
https://electrichorsemen.bandcamp.com/track/milk-coma
https://www.facebook.com/backwoodspayback/

Electric Horsemen, “Milk Coma” (2017)

Both Count von Count and On the Radar veterans Electric Horsemen come out with riffs blazing on their limited-to-300-copies self-released split. The Muppetly-named Delaware four-piece start with “Pharmboss,” and the Lancaster County merchants come forth with “Prairie Witch.” It’s a short blip of a split with just those two tracks plus two others, but a loud one, and each act heaps a heavy shovel-load of sludge in their allotted time. They take turns, rather than divide up the disc into halves, which works here since they have such congruous sounds but might be awkward for bands not so similarly suited.

It’s riffs and screams on “Pharmboss,” which seems a simple enough post-Eyehategod formula until the song opens up to a massive stoner riff at 3:39, showing there’s more to Count von Count than trudging guitars and slow-paced maliciousness. When Electric Horsemen answer back with “Prairie Witch,” it’s almost an echo, since the song, despite some rawer production and volume difference, takes essentially the same tactic. Electric Horsemen sound a little dirtier, a little thicker, but if you were to put this disc on and go do laundry or whatever it is human beings do while they listen to music other than write about it in their pajamas, I’d doubt if the difference would take you aback at all.

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Sure to delight the Amish countywide, Lancaster, PA, sludge outfit Electric Horsemen have been one of those bands I’ve been meaning to check out for a while, seeing their names on fliers for this that or the other in my usual stalkings of bands like Ol’ Scratch, Valkyrie and others whose albums I’d put out if I had the startup costs to get a record label going. Now that I’ve finally heard what I’ve been missing, I’ve got no choice but to boot myself in the ass yet again for hesitating.

In a way, discovering new kickass bands is a hassle, because there’s so much good stuff out there, you’re bound to run out of patience for it. I’m not saying Electric Horsemen are the second coming of Buzzov*en, but they’ve got some killer grooves, some nasty screams and riffs I wouldn’t mind hearing emanate every once in a while from a small plastic disc. Their recently-released split with Count Von Count, for example, would do nicely.

Those in the York area — I happen to know for a fact this site is huge in York, PA (that’s not true) — be sure to catch them at The Depot with Backwoods Payback on Nov. 14. For those of us stuck in the valley, we’ll just have to wait till they head up this way, which if they’re smart will be never.

Dig Electric Horsemen‘s MySpaceifications here.