Desertfest Belgium 2024 Announces Initial Lineup

Posted in Whathaveyou on March 18th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

Set for the weekend of Oct. 18-20 and (I think?) celebrating the 10th anniversary of the first Desertfest Belgium, which was held in 2014, the 2024 edition of the Antwerp-based Desertfest has made its first lineup announcement, anchored by Fu Manchu and Russian Circles and featuring a host of others ranging in both geography and style. From the fluid textures of REZN and classic melodic prog rock of Mondo Drag to the reunited Scorpion ChildBongzilla‘s singularly stoned crust and the expansive riffery of Stoned Jesus, whose Mother Dark complement to early-2023’s Father Light (review here) is awaited, it’s a well-rounded bill even before you account for heavy psych rockers Seedy Jeezus and bluesy ’70s traditionalists Child making the trip from Australia, the latter on the heels of Heavy Psych Sounds reissuing their catalog, the expansive sounds of Messa, and so on.

That it looks like a cool time isn’t really a surprise. Desertfest Belgium has developed a character of its own as the flagship Fall Desertfest in Europe, and while I’ve never been, I always look forward to seeing what it brings to the seasonal cohort of heavy festivals. Already we know REZN will be on tour with Russian Circles, as that was announced last week too, but it’s likely more tours will come from Mondo DragRitual King and others below that haven’t been revealed yet if they’re even at this point finalized. In addition to the usual daydreaming-about-travel, I find thinking about these things and imagining tours and who might have new records out by the time October gets here to be a particular kind of nerdy joy.

The announcement, as per social media:

Desertfest Belgium 2024 starter

It’s that time of year again! It’s with great pride and excitement that we announce the first names for DF24! 👁️

Confirmed for Desertfest ANTWERP are:
Fu Manchu Russian Circles Stoned Jesus Bongzilla Scorpion Child MESSA Wolvennest Mondo Drag Seedy Jeezus CHILD REZN Ritual King The Abbey Lethvm RRRags Crouch Kara Delik

Three days of delirium and heavy delight are surely awaiting us all in Antwerp!

https://www.desertfest.be/antwerp/information/ticketing/

We’ll be back with more names very soon…🤘

http://www.desertfest.be/
https://www.facebook.com/desertfestbelgium/
https://www.instagram.com/desertfest_belgium/

Mondo Drag, Through the Hourglass (2023)

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Album Review: Slower, Slower

Posted in Reviews on February 16th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

slower slower

Guitarist Bob Balch would seem to be on something of a creative binge, between an impending Fu Manchu 2LP and recent releases from Yawning Balch and Big Scenic Nowhere, and with Slower he presents a manifestation of the ultimate beer-drunk band idea. “What if, like, you took Slayer, and slowed it down?”

That’s what Slower is on paper. The songs of seminal Californian thrashers Slayer, played slower. The reality of Slower, which is the Balch-led project’s Heavy Psych Sounds-delivered debut album, is a selection of five covers that offers a richer experience than the math of the band’s purpose might lead one to believe. The Slayer originals they’ve chosen to rework — “War Ensemble,” “Blood Red,” and “Dead Skin Mask” from 1990’s Seasons in the Abyss, “The Antichrist” from 1983’s Show No Mercy and, to close, the title-track of 1988’s South of Heaven — are classics within the sphere of metal, and are treated with due respect even as they’re rearranged and turned into something pointedly not what they originally were.

This is done with care and love of the source material, and a sense of curation that is all the more resonant with the lineup Balch assembled for the project. Drummer Esben Willems (of Monolord; he has a solo album coming in addition to appearing here) in Gothenburg, Sweden, vocalist Amy Tung Barrysmith (Year of the Cobra) in Seattle, and bassist Peder Bergstrand (Lowrider) in Stockholm comprise the ‘main band’ on the record, developing a persona of their own even on covers through means of the rearrangement process. That is, they took the songs and reworked them. No one here is inexperienced or incapable. If you believe in supergroups, Slower‘s pretty damn super even before you get to Laura Pleasants (The Discussion, ex-Kylesa) and Scott Reeder (currently Sovereign Eagle, ex-Kyuss, The Obsessed, Goatsnake, needs to do another solo record, etc.) swapping in on vocals and bass, respectively, for “South of Heaven” at the finish. A goofy, fun idea for a band/album as Slower might be, the end result is pointedly not bullshit where it very easily (perhaps with different personnel) could have been.

Underlining the point: Slower is not a tossoff. It’s not a joke band. While indeed the songs are largely reduced in tempo, there is an aspect of the project that feels a bit like the impetus behind it was Balch wanting to take on playing both the Kerry King and Jeff Hannneman (from whose 2013 death the band never really recovered) solos, which he does with all suitable respect for the personalities of Slayer‘s two guitarists, whammy squeals and speed enough to speak to thrash. If that was the case, fair enough for the homage. It’s just a thing not everyone could do at the level it’s done here. Some of those shredfest ripper solos are no less iconic than the lyrical declarations of the choruses to “War Ensemble” or “Dead Skin Mask,” and they are put on a pedestal along with a treasure trove of groove that was lurking beneath the furious intensity of the originals. “War Ensemble,” opening here as it does on Seasons in the Abyss with some transposed urgency, unveils its central riff as a righteous nodder with Bergstrand bringing new tonal presence to the verse, Willems‘ casual double-kick giving an easy ride into the stop, and Barrysmith in immediate command.

The five-minute original becomes the 10-minute cover (it is both opener and longest track; immediate points), and as a lead-in for “The Antichrist,” “Blood Red” and “Dead Skin Mask,” “War Ensemble” blends the familiar — it was one of Slayer‘s many landmarks and a live-set feature for decades before the band ‘ended’ (never say never) in 2019 with 12 records and enough influence to make a project like this happen across microgenres — the surprises it holds and affirmations it makes are crucial to what follows. One doesn’t necessarily think of Slayer as an atmospherically-minded band, though they were at times (and perhaps a second Slower LP could honor Slayer and Sabbath both in opening with the storm at the start of “Raining Blood”; uniting worlds or at least disparate ends of the same one), but Slower dig into “The Antichrist” and find a gritty slog that becomes insistent in a chorus that takes the already-doubled vocals and adds backing tracks to emphasize a depth that is Slower‘s own in a song that, being a deeper cut — as opposed to a Slayer ‘hit,’ I guess? they did used to play their music videos on the tee-vee sometimes — allows Balch (who trips out the midsection admirably taring toward psychedelia), BarrysmithBergstrand and Willems to flesh it out and find a new path to the rotted-soul ascension of its title figure.

slower

The melody emergent in “The Antichrist” is expanded upon in “Blood Red,” the centerpiece of the CD and presumed side B opener on the LP, as the verse riff becomes a strut and the chorus opens to a breadth Slower have been holding in reserve. It’s an un-pop singalong, complete with backing ‘oohs’ for “You cannot hide the face of death/Oppression ruled by bloodshed/No disguise can deface evil/The massacre of innocent people,” which are lines that sadly retain their relevance these 34 years after the fact, and are more sinister for the sweetness of Barrysmith‘s delivery. With “Dead Skin Mask” and “Seasons in the Abyss” still to come, “Blood Red” has a harder road making an impression, and that was true with Slayer‘s version as well in 1990, but amid the forward roll and chug of the verse and the arrival-point feel of the hook, it is the vocals even more that distinguish it as an unexpected highlight.

And I know Slayer have a ton of iconic tracks, from the prior-mentioned “Raining Blood” through “Disciple,” “Angel of Death” — maybe better to leave that one alone? — and “Piece by Piece,” but especially the first and maybe only time out, pairing “Dead Skin Mask” and “South of Heaven” at the end of Slower‘s Slower feels natural. The latter came before the former, and is arguably the most ‘doom’ Slayer ever got, where “Dead Skin Mask” showed up on the next album and refined those very purposes. Both are the kinds of songs dudes get tattoos of, but as they have all along, Slower tread carefully in terms of balancing respect for where the songs came from and taking them where they want to go. Not to be understated is the subversive element of a woman delivering the lyrics to “Dead Skin Mask,” which was never explicit but strongly implied misogynist violence, and Barrysmith resounds in the chorus, where “Dance with the dead in my dreams…” becomes a chant and all the more consuming for that. While I wish they repeated that finish four or five more times, I’m happy to take what I can get.

As noted, “South of Heaven” brings a lineup switch, Reeder stepping in for Bergstrand — the inclusion of those two speaks as well to Balch wanting to bring a new sense of presence to the low end; he could easily have handled bass himself as an afterthought; as is, bass becomes an essential part of the character of the band in a way Slayer‘s Tom Araya probably wouldn’t have expected — and Pleasants taking over for Barrysmith. Dark toned, Balch begins on guitar and Reeder and Pleasants soon join for the opening build, ending of course with the line “Before you see the light” stretched to fill the new spaces in the riff before the guitar, bass and drums stop cold to let Pleasants croon the second part of the lyric: “You must die.”

Shit, I’m ready. Let’s go. If you could get audio tattooed on your person, that moment might be worth carrying around for the rest of your life but it’s already ingrained in the heads of Slayer fans, so take that as you will. Pleasants toys with the verse arrangement somewhat, perhaps covering some awkwardness in the patterning born of the change in pace with effects and layering, but it’s nothing that feels out of line with the mood or atmosphere Slower bring to “South of Heaven,” the stinkface-inducing stomp of Willems‘ drums glorious in manifesting a sense of methodical aggression over the chaos referenced in the chorus — “Chaos rampant/An age of distrust/Confrontations, impulsive habitat (or ‘sabbath’)” before they got right down to it, “On and on, south of heaven” — as Balch likewise digs deeper to find a nastiness of tone that is undeniable. It ends, as it invariably would, with shred given over to noise and a tease of the thuds at the end of “Postmortem” that, on 1986’s Reign in Blood, mark the transition into “Raining Blood” itself. The message seems to be: maybe next time.

Generally speaking and across a wide range of contexts, I suck at fun. Accordingly, I was a little apprehensive in taking on Slower because I felt like maybe it would be a party and I wouldn’t really be able to get my head into the right space for it. That’s not how it went, either in terms of the atmosphere of the record or my listening experience with it. I don’t know that Slower will or won’t do more — certainly no one involved lacks other projects to focus on — but I hope they do, and as a love letter to Slayer, the execution of these songs and the obvious heart and thought put into them, Slower resonates, however familiar you may or may not be with the originals.

Slower, Slower (2024)

Slower on Instagram

Heavy Psych Sounds on Facebook

Heavy Psych Sounds on Instagram

Heavy Psych Sounds on Bandcamp

Heavy Psych Sounds website

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Keep it Low 2024 Puts Tickets on Sale; Announces Fu Manchu, Truckfighters, Monolord, Greenleaf & More

Posted in Whathaveyou on December 29th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

If you’re the type who likes to take care of things early, well, you’re apparently in good company with the Munich-based Keep it Low Festival. The two-dayer fest, which is one of many under the umbrella of Sound of Liberation booking, is held annually in October, and that’s when it’s set to take place in 2024 as well, at Backstage in Munich on Oct. 11-12. Tickets, however, are on sale almost 10 full months early.

Why? I’m not sure, but I have a definite answer in “why the hell not?,” and I find that when I try to answer that question, I come up blank. So yeah, it seems like that’s really early, but on the other hand, why not put tickets for next year on sale while people are at the fest this year? It’s different, I don’t know if it’s been done before, but doesn’t that just make it a new idea, and is that something so terrible to be chasing down in a climate where live music is trying to draw people out of the entertainment hotbeds we’ve built in our homes?

I’ve gotten sidetracked from this lineup announcement, which came out the other day from Sound of Liberation and hints toward Fall 2024 European tours for at least Fu Manchu, Monolord, Truckfighters, Greenleaf, Messa and Psychlona, but I like to keep an eye for how things evolve from year to year and for all I know, Keep it Low has been doing this every year for the last decade (happy 10th anniversary, by the way) and I’m just picking up on it now because, well, I’m kinda slow sometimes, but it stood out to me as something you might not see all the time. And maybe you like to make early travel arrangements. I know I do.

From social media:

keep it low 2024 first announcement

KEEP IT LOW 2024 – ⚡️FIRST BAND ANNOUNCEMENT & TICKETS ON SALE!⚡️

Hey Keepers,

we are super excited to present you the first bands for next year’s edition of the Keep It Low festival!🔥

Please welcome:

FU MANCHU
TRUCKFIGHTERS
MONOLORD
GREENLEAF
MESSA
WOLVENNEST
PSYCHLONA
APTERA
DJIIN
ZERRE
HECKSPOILER
MINDCRAWLER
& MANY MORE!

🎫Weekend tickets are available in our shop.
www.sol-tickets.com

Keep It Low Festival
10th anniversary
🗓️11 & 12 October 2024
📍Backstage Munich

Artwork by Sebastian Jerke

Cheers,
Your Keep It Low Crew

https://www.facebook.com/keepitlowfestival/
https://www.keepitlow.de/
https://www.soundofliberation.com/
http://www.sol-tickets.com

Greenleaf, Live at Desertfest Berlin 2023

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Slower: Self-Titled Debut From Slayer Covers Project Available to Preorder; “War Ensemble” Streaming

Posted in Whathaveyou on October 31st, 2023 by JJ Koczan

slower

There’s comment from project participants Bob Balch (who spearheaded the idea), Esben Willems (who drums on the entire record) and Peder Bergstrand (who plays bass on all but one track, sharing space with Scott Reeder) below, and when you can hear from members of Fu ManchuMonolord and Lowrider, I sincerely doubt any comment I might make matters. Those three speak below on how Slower — the conceptual covers project that, yes, dooms up select Slayer tracks both originally speedy like “War Ensemble” streaming below or, duh, slower, like inevitable closer “South of Heaven” — came together, and with Year of the Cobra‘s Amy Barrysmith on vocals for the majority and The Discussion‘s Laura Pleasants (also ex-Kylesa) taking over for the aforementioned finisher, it’d be a release of note no matter who they were taking on.

Maybe next time out they’ll do Duran Duran. Or maybe they’ll finally unveil the insistent creep at the heart of “Raining Blood.” I won’t claim to know, but given both personnel and source material, I expect this will be a beacon as the underground emerges from the generally-dead doldrums of January and takes on 2024 in earnest. Looking forward to it, in other words.

But album preorders are up now, so don’t let me keep you. Heavy Psych Sounds announced last week it had snagged the oops-kind-of-a-supergroup outfit for this release, and Jan. 26 is the listed arrival date. By all means, dive in. From the PR wire:

slower slower

Heavy Psych Sounds to announce SLOWER upcoming debut album – presale starts TODAY !!!

– new super band feat. members of Kyuss, Fu Manchu, Kylesa, Lowrider, Monolord and Year Of The Cobra – SLAYER tracks in a SLOWER mood

Today we are stoked to start the presale of the upcoming SLOWER self-titled debut album !!!

RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 26th

ALBUM PRESALE: https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop.htm#HPS288

USA PRESALE: https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop-usa.htm

RELEASED IN
10 ULTRA LTD TEST PRESS VINYL
100 ULTRA LTD SIDE A – SIDE B BLACK/ORANGE/WHITE VINYL
150 ULTRA LTD COLOR IN COLOR TRANSP. BACK. RED/SPLATTER BLACK VINYL
500 LTD NEON GREEN VINYL
BLACK VINYL
DIGIPAK
DIGITAL

TRACKLIST
SIDE A
War Ensemble – 10:39
The Antichrist – 8:13

SIDE B
Blood Red – 6:30
Dead Skin Mask – 6:08
South Of Heaven – 7:11

Bob Balch from FU MANCHU here. The idea for the SLOWER project started around four years ago. I was teaching a student how to play “South Of Heaven” by SLAYER but she was a beginner so we slowed it down. I thought that sounded cool so I tuned down to B standard and tried it. I added some drums and thought “someone in the doom community should do this and name it SLOWER.”

A few years later I befriended Steven “Thee Slayer Hippy” Hanford, best known for his work as the drummer in the influential Oregon punk band Poison Idea. He was backstage at a FU MANCHU show. Oddly enough I was wearing a POISON IDEA shirt and he told me that my shirt sucks. I asked who he was and why he was in our backstage. He told me and I felt stupid. We started drinking whiskey and talking about music. We stayed in touch over the next year or so and during Covid I told him about my SLOWER idea. He asked me to send him tracks. I waited too long because the day I sent the tracks he passed away. Totally tragic. I’m glad I got to know him even for a few years. He was a monster musician with a giant heart.

He will be greatly missed.

I shelved the project for a while after that. One day Esben from MONOLORD posted about musical collaborations. I love MONOLORD so I thought what the hell. I sent him some tracks and he killed it on drums. So I sent more. Then more. Shortly after that we started reaching out other musicians to get them involved. That’s how we ended up with this lineup. Everyone that contributed completely knocked it out of the park and I can’t thank them enough.

This project has been a long time coming and I’m beyond stoked on how it turned out. Without all of the players involved, Steven Hanford and my baritone Reverend guitar it wouldn’t have happened. Thanks to everyone involved and I hope you dig it! I’m a giant SLAYER fan so it’s been a treat to dig into these classic songs. Hopefully we can do another record in the near future. Look out for shows because they will happen!

Esben Willems – When Bob first approached me with the idea and I heard his scratch guitars, my first thought was “This is genius”. Those iconic tracks we all know by heart suddenly unveiled an unexpected dimension. I’m really proud of how this turned out.

Peder Bergstrand – “This might be blasphemous considering the circumstances, but when Bob reached out and asked if I’d want to play bass on sludged-out Slayer covers, I had to admit some of these tracks were brand new to me.

That made the experience even more special though, hearing and playing on the Slower version first, and then comparing to the original. Bob has really transformed these songs into something totally their own, and on a personal level I feel the rest of the band’s insane performances pushed me to my most inspired playing to date.

So incredibly stoked for people to hear this album.”

CREDITS

“War Ensemble” “Dead Skin Mask” “Blood Red” “The Antichrist”
Esben Willems (drums) MONOLORD
Peder Bergstrand (bass) LOWRIDER
Amy Barrysmith (vocals) YEAR OF THE COBRA
Bob Balch (guitars) FU MANCHU

“South Of Heaven”
Esben Willems (drums) MONOLORD
Scott Reeder (bass) KYUSS
Laura Pleasants (vocals) KYLESA
Bob Balch (guitars) FU MANCHU

SLOWER is:
Esben Willems (drums) MONOLORD
Peder Bergstrand (bass) LOWRIDER
Amy Barrysmith (vocals) YEAR OF THE COBRA
Laura Pleasents (vocals) KYLESA
Bob Balch (guitars) FU MANCHU
Scott Reeder (bass) KYUSS

https://www.instagram.com/slower_666/

https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUNDS/
https://www.instagram.com/heavypsychsounds_records/
https://heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com/
http://www.heavypsychsounds.com/

Slower, “War Ensemble”

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Slower: Slayer Covers Project Signs to Heavy Psych Sounds

Posted in Whathaveyou on October 19th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Well yeah, I mean, you look at the cast of characters here and you know those riffs are monstrous. Slower‘s kind of a no-brainer, and I’m not trying to be clever and knock the concept, because actually I know the concept works. Someone, at some point, has sent you some YouTube clip of Slayer slowed down. It sounds killer. That Bob Balch — already signed to Heavy Psych Sounds as part of Big Scenic Nowhere and Yawning Balch, also of Fu Manchu, PlayThisRiff.com, ex-Minotaur, and so on — decided to do it for real with Esben Willems (Monolord, Studio Berserk) on drums, and Laura Pleasants (The Discussion, ex-Kylesa) and Amy Barrysmith (Year of the Cobra) sharing vocal duties, well, I mean, well yeah. Yeah. Of course. Yeah.

I wouldn’t have minded if Peder from Lowrider — who shares bass duties with Scott Reeder (KyussGoatsnakeThe Obsessed, etc.), as he should — got a song to sing, as his voice is perfect for something airy and open, which some of Slayer‘s material could be (re-)interpreted to be, but Heavy Psych Sounds just signed the band and both the label and Balch say they hope more is coming, so maybe that’s a future possibility. Balch also mentions live shows. That’d be a fun one to see at a festival in some field somewhere, hopefully properly hydrated.

If you can dig it, and oh, I think probably you can, here’s the info from the PR wire:

slower heavy psych sounds

Heavy Psych Sounds to announce SLOWER (feat. members of Kyuss, Fu Manchu, Kylesa etc.) signing for their debut album !!!

*** SLOWER *** – brand new project feat. members of Kyuss, Fu Manchu, Kylesa, Monolord, Lowrider and Year Of The Cobra –

We’re incredibly stoked to announce that the brand new super band SLOWER signed to Heavy Psych Sounds Records for their debut album !!!

ALBUM PRESALE + FIRST TRACK PREMIERE: October 31st

BIOGRAPHY

Bob Balch from FU MANCHU here.

The idea for the SLOWER project started around four years ago. I was teaching a student how to play “South Of Heaven” by SLAYER but she was a beginner so we slowed it down. I thought that sounded cool so I tuned down to B standard and tried it. I added some drums and thought “someone in the doom community should do this and name it SLOWER.”

A few years later I befriended Steven “Thee Slayer Hippy” Hanford, best known for his work as the drummer in the influential Oregon punk band Poison Idea. He was backstage at a FU MANCHU show. Oddly enough I was wearing a POISON IDEA shirt and he told me that my shirt sucks. I asked who he was and why he was in our backstage. He told me and I felt stupid. We started drinking whiskey and talking about music. We stayed in touch over the next year or so and during Covid I told him about my SLOWER idea. He asked me to send him tracks. I waited too long because the day I sent the tracks he passed away. Totally tragic. I’m glad I got to know him even for a few years. He was a monster musician with a giant heart.

He will be greatly missed.

I shelved the project for a while after that. One day Esben from MONOLORD posted about musical collaborations. I love MONOLORD so I thought what the hell. I sent him some tracks and he killed it on drums. So I sent more. Then more. Shortly after that we started reaching out other musicians to get them involved. That’s how we ended up with this lineup. Everyone that contributed completely knocked it out of the park and I can’t thank them enough.

This project has been a long time coming and I’m beyond stoked on how it turned out. Without all of the players involved, Steven Hanford and my baritone Reverend guitar it wouldn’t have happened. Thanks to everyone involved and I hope you dig it! I’m a giant SLAYER fan so it’s been a treat to dig into these classic songs. Hopefully we can do another record in the near future.

Look out for shows because they will happen!

SLOWER is:
Esben Willems (drums) MONOLORD
Peder Bergstrand (bass) LOWRIDER
Amy Barrysmith (vocals) YEAR OF THE COBRA
Laura Pleasents (vocals) KYLESA
Bob Balch (guitars) FU MANCHU
Scott Reeder (bass) KYUSS

https://www.instagram.com/slower_666/

https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUNDS/
https://www.instagram.com/heavypsychsounds_records/
https://heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com/
http://www.heavypsychsounds.com/

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Jacket Thief: Scott Reeder of Fu Manchu Announces Solo Release

Posted in Whathaveyou on September 4th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Jacket Thief Scott Reeder of Fu Manchu

Add Fu Manchu drummer Scott Reeder to the list of the band’s members putting out solo releases in 2023. Fu bassist Brad Davis issued a debut with Gods of Sometimes this summer. Guitarist Bob Balch has like 75 bands, among them currently active is Yawning Balch and the multinational interpretive Slayer covers outfit Slower. If guitarist/vocalist Scott Hill decides to do a garage punk record or something, that’ll be enough for Bingo. Next time you’re asked who missed playing live the most during the pandemic, Fu Manchu might be your answer. Dudes must’ve been restless as hell.

Jacket Thief is the name of Reeder‘s outfit, and the album to be self-released through TripKey Records is called Lights Out on the Shore. The first single is “TLFN,” and where the PR wire sends word of various moods/vibes, the single is very much a single: catchy, inviting, straightforward. Its sound is heavy in the bottom end but not shooting for aggression or even necessarily density so much as melodic expression. Balch provides a solo, but beyond that it would seem Reeder played all the instruments and sings, as the video shows him playing guitar with color effects added and the lyrics splashed across the screen.

No, I won’t spoil what “TLFN” stands for, but if you search it and come up with “time-lagged feedforward neural networks,” I’ll tell you that’s not what the song is about, fascinating though they are.

From the PR wire:

Jacket Thief Lights Out on the Shore

FU MANCHU’s Scott Reeder Debuts Solo Project JACKET THIEF

New Album, “Lights Out On The Shore,” Out Sept 29th

Stream The First Single “TLFN” Now!

Notable Southern California bred multi-instrumentalist and FU MANCHU drummer Scott Reeder has taken the plunge into solo waters with his new project JACKET THIEF. The revered musician’s upcoming debut album, “Lights Out On The Shore,” was born out of studio sessions with Grammy Award winning producer/engineer Ryan Mall (Dropkick Murphys, Old Crow Medicine Show, Gaslight Anthem), where Reeder cultivated his vision, bringing together his desert rock roots with melodic, acoustic, psychedelic and heartland rock influences. “Lights Out On The Shore,” will be released on September 29th on his own TripKey Records.

Commenting on the record, Reeder says:

“This is a record that I wanted to do for a long while, and then different circumstances conspired so that it was more like I had to do it, I couldn’t wait any longer.”

JACKET THIEF’s debut is a melodic and soulful rock album with an engaging flow throughout, from the heavy crash of “Some Kind Of Murder” and ” A Stitch In Time,” to the leaden throb of “Daylight Apparitions” and the drop-tuned drone of the title track “Lights Out On The Shore.”

Today, Reeder has released the first taste of JACKET THIEF’s “Lights Out On The Shore,” with the single “TLFN.”

Adding about the song, Reeder states:

“‘TLFN’ is a song co written by friend and singer songwriter Micheal Rosas. It’s been around for a while in different guises. It has a bit of a heavy strut to it and the lyrics remain pretty much to the point…’is this what I think it is, or is it something else?’ In this case, it’s straight forward 4 on the floor rock-n roll with a blistering fuzzed out solo from Bob Balch.”

Stream “TLFN” and pre-order “Lights Out On The Shore”:
https://linktr.ee/jacketthiefmusic

“Lights Out On The Shore” Tracklist:
1. Flying Too Low
2. TLFN
3. A Stitch In Time
4. Lights Out On The Shore
5. Furs And Fires
6. Lord Meade Lane
7. A Wind Gone By
8. Some Kind Of Murder
9. The First Ones From The Skies
10. Everything But Right
11. Daylight Apparitions
12. As She Drifts…

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550047004220
https://instagram.com/jacketthief_scottreeder
https://linktr.ee/jacketthiefmusic

Jacket Thief, “TLFN” official video

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Album Review: Gods of Sometimes, Gods of Sometimes

Posted in Reviews on July 5th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Gods of Sometimes Gods of Sometimes

With their self-titled debut, Gods of Sometimes present a melodic vision of mellow heavy rock with a special penchant for details. Vibes shift between the McCartney-esque bassline of “Dawn of the Tin Man” to the definitely-Lennon “Stilted Low” like a lost White Album piece, some shoegaze, plenty of psychedelia, subdued indie; it’s flowing, and the kind of thing that gets called minimalist because it isn’t loud but is nonetheless rich in its construction. Vocalist, guitarist and Mellotronist Andrew Giacumakis of Moab and bassist/drummer Brad Davis of Fu Manchu each share in the other’s role a bit, with Davis playing some guitar and adding vocals and Giacumakis adding drums and bass, and the Falling Dome Records nine-track/38-minute outing is more varied for that flexibility of approach.

From the initial echoing slide over the gentler acoustic strum of the eponymous opener “Gods of Sometimes,” the album demonstrates, yes, a love of The Beatles — which is not unexpected from Giacumakis, given the three albums Moab released between 2011-2018; Ab Ovo (interview here), Billow (review here), and Trough (discussed here, review here) — but a headphone-ready depth of mix that rewards closer attention, whether it’s the layer of backing vocals riding the held notes in the hook of “Gods of Sometimes” or the later Mellotron/acoustic piece “Wherewithal,” which becomes a highlight on the strength of its string sounds and chorus vocal melody. There is some experimental edge to centerpiece “Hand on the Hide,” making the song feel like it genuinely started with the drone at its outset and was perhaps built from there — the opposite just as likely — but even that sub-three-minute stretch finds its way into clearheaded melody by its finish, with drums arriving about halfway through and that drone staying, but moving to become more of a backdrop than forward feature, resting behind the acoustic guitar and drums and vocals easily.

Cuts like the single “In the End,” which brings in J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. and Witch on a later guitar solo, and “Watching for Satellites” — and maybe we can put “Gods of Sometimes” itself in the category as well — have more of a rock-based presentation, but the same is true even of closer “Just Another One,” which is quiet fuzz guitar with far-back drums and mostly-higher-register vocals at the start, before drifting smoothly into slow and psychedelic indie, growing lush by the time it’s two and a half minutes into its total 4:34, getting (relatively) heavy in its march and seeming to solidify in its back half the progression of its first, becoming a wash only for a moment before the snare snaps it to quick-fade-everybody-out silence.

Front-to-back, in the finer moments like the grunge-swing dig-in of “You Will” or the layer of long Mellotron notes that makes the plucked acoustic guitar sound almost classical as it runs alongside the multitracked vocals in the early verse of “Wherewithal” just before, Gods of Sometimes thrive. And they draw the songs together through quality of craft, structure, and atmosphere, so that malleable and adaptable as Giacumakis and Davis seem to be between the bounce and wisp of “Return of the Tin Man” — complemented by Radiohead vibes in the verse — and the blossoming effect of “In the End” as it moves toward its finish, and so on down the line of tracks each making its own impression with its own intent, nothing feels out of place. With that Endless Boogie backbeat under its meditative-but-cool figure and head-trip vocals, even “Hand on the Hide” fits. Think about Sgt. Pepper. Did “When I’m Sixty-Four” have any trouble picking up from “Within You Without You?” No. By keeping an open palette, Gods of Sometimes function similarly to create a whole-album feel.

gods of sometimes

As regards that feel, vibe, atmosphere, whatever — that intangible, mostly-unquantifiable thing that pulls you into a work instead of repelling you from it — Gods of Sometimes present very few challenges to being immersed. With all nine songs under five minutes long — “Dawn of the Tin Man” comes closest at 4:57 and others aren’t far behind, but still — they run no risk of overstaying their welcome, and the shifts in arrangement throughout, the easy transitions between acoustic and electric guitar, as well as their intertwining, the changing Mellotron sounds and flourishes like the glitchy crackles in the first verse and the keys/drones/backwards ending of “Watching for Satellites,” remain accessible thanks to the structures underlying and the daringly-pleasant melodies overlaid. In the tradition of bands like Masters of Reality, it is not challenging in the least, unless perhaps one is talking about challenging the conventions of heavy rock, because yes, Gods of Sometimes do, at least in part, do that.

That is to say, if you’re coming into Gods of Sometimes because you read that one of the guys from Fu Manchu and the dude from Moab who produced the last two Fu Manchu LPs — 2018’s Clone of the Universe (review here) and 2014’s Gigantoid (review here) — got together for a project and you’re thinking it might sound like either of their other acts, that’s not what their self-titled is doing or wants to do. There are common elements in some heavier tones and some of the rhythms of “Gods of Sometimes” — which was reportedly the first song they wrote — or “Dawn of the Tin Man,” which in coming after the opener signals the band’s purposefully placing catchier, more ‘rocking’ material up front before branching out with “Stilted Low” and regrounding in pop psych-rock via “In the End.” Their doing so speaks to the album as an introduction for those following Giacumakis and Davis from their respective bands to this one, and its warm and inviting presence and the back and forth that follows those first two tracks, weaving through melancholy and breadth en route to the payoff of “Just Another One,” make it an engrossing listen. It blossoms all the more on repeat visits.

Inevitably, the question becomes about the future of the project, if Giacumakis and Davis will continue this collaboration or if this self-titled is it. You never know. They’ve certainly given themselves a variety of aural paths to choose while remaining aware of what they want their songs to do and be, and if they can get another record together at any point — their other time commitments being what they are — one imagines their development will be taken on with no less fluidity than they offer here.

Gods of Sometimes, “Gods of Sometimes”

Gods of Sometimes, “In the End”

Gods of Sometimes on Instagram

Gods of Sometimes on Bandcamp

Gods of Sometimes merch

Gods of Sometimes linktr.ee

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Gods of Sometimes Release First Single “In the End”; Debut Album Coming Soon

Posted in Whathaveyou on May 15th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

About two weeks ago I closed out the week with Moab‘s 2018 third album, Trough (discussed here), and got word on social media that that band’s guitarist/vocalist Andrew Giacumakis and Brad Davis, bassist of Fu Manchu, had a new project coming out together. Hello, Gods of Sometimes. There was a snippet on Instagram of “In the End,” which is the song you can hear at the bottom of this post, and not much else to go on, but the Lennon/McCartney vibe in the track — plus a guitar solo from J. Mascis — is palpable in the melody and bouncing rhythm, and as a sucker for, well, really all of it, I’m excited at the prospect of the duo’s impending debut full-length, apparently set to release this summer.

The song speaks for itself with a lush melody and easy roll that reminds of when psych-pop and psych-rock weren’t so necessarily opposed, and I remember very well how excellent a match it was when Giacumakis produced Fu Manchu‘s 2014 album, Gigantoid (review here), which would seem to have set this collaboration in motion. If “In the End” is representative of the record as a whole, it should be just about perfect for release under the summer sun.

Dig:

gods of sometimes

GODS OF SOMETIMES (FU MANCHU/MOAB) Make Their Debut With “In The End” (Feat J. MASCIS)

Southern California alt-indie rock duo GODS OF SOMETIMES has unveiled their first single, “In The End” (featuring J. Mascis of revered rock pioneers DINOSAUR JR.), today. The two-piece, consisting of bassist Brad Davis (FU MANCHU) and guitarist/vocalist Andrew Giacumakis (MOAB), deliver mesmerizing folk tinged space rock on their first outing; a taste of what’s to come from their first album due out this summer.

Commenting on the song, Davis says:

“When the song “In The End” came together we saw it as an opportunity to give a nod to The Beatles. One of our big musical influences. We had the luck of being graced by a guest guitar solo from another big influence. J Mascis did us the favor of lending his talents. His style of reckless melody brought things to a new level. Although it’s called “In The End” we felt it was the best song to put out first!”

About GODS OF SOMETIMES:

Brad Davis (bassist for Fu Manchu) and Andrew Giacumakis (guitarist/vocalist for Moab) met in the studio in the mid-2010’s while working on Fu Manchu’s “Gigantoid” (2014) and “Clone of the Universe” (2018). Andrew served as a recording engineer/producer for the records and the two multi-instrumentalists quickly developed a friendship and discovered a mutual love of mellower music outside the realm of the heavy genres they both worked in. They decided to make an album together.

Brad Davis – drums, bass, (some guitar and vocals)
Andrew Giacumakis – vocals, guitar, mellotron, (some drums and bass)

https://www.instagram.com/godsofsometimes/
https://godsofsometimes.bandcamp.com/
https://godsofsometimes.bigcartel.com/
https://linktr.ee/godsofsometimes

Gods of Sometimes, “In the End”

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