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Gone Cosmic Premiere “For Sabotage” From Send for a Warning, the Future’s Calling

Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on August 4th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Gone Cosmic

Recorded in 2020, the second full-length from Calgary heavy rockers Gone Cosmic, titled Send for a Warning, the Future’s Calling, arrives on Sept. 2 through Grand Hand Records. Premiering below, “For Sabotage” is the third single from the impending LP behind the opener “Crimson Hand” (which it also follows on the record) and the side B leadoff “Endless,” and it brings into focus the underlying progressivism of the band’s approach. Oh they’re a rock band, make no mistake, but if you take a listen to the King Buffalo-y guitar in “For Sabotage” or any of the three singles, more generally the message is there waiting to be heard — Gone Cosmic are the kind of band who blow other bands off the stage.

In 2019, the four-piece made their debut on Kozmik Artifactz with Sideways in Time (review here), and even two years after the fact, the urgency that they put into getting back into the studio for the follow-up resonates. Vocalist Abbie Thurgood is a classic heavy rock belter, and from “Crimson Hand” through the sci-fi funk of closer “The Future’s Calling,” her performance is likewise dynamic and forceful. To wit, the three-minute “To Refuse Compromise.” That’s it. That song is the sentence. But guitarist Devin “Darty” Purdy, bassist Brett Whittingham and drummer Marcello Castronuovo are more than a backing band to showcase the talent of their frontperson. It’s Castronuovo who fires the first shots, launching “Crimson Hand” with a drum fill that — once you’ve actually listened to the rest of what follows — is revealed as a signifier of intent. And whether it’s the buildup of “Envy Thrives” or the plotted post-apex comedown of “Causeway,” Gone Cosmic interpret progressive heavy rock as a means to generate movement, to energize and excite.

Send for a Warning, the Future’s Calling was produced and mixed by Josh Rob Gwilliam at OCL Studios, and what a task that must’ve been. Thurgood‘s voice is at the forefront — it could hardly be anywhere else — but to listen to the glorious punch of Whittingham‘s bass on “For Sabotage”gone cosmic send for a warning the future's calling or the centerpiece “The Wrong Side of Righteous” as Purdy‘s guitar weaves around it in Elderian noodling style, or the way in which Castronuovo‘s fill seems to roll downhill as “Endless” begins to move toward its payoff at around the 2:40 mark, and the balance of elements at play is striking. Understand, Gone Cosmic aren’t playing expansive, dug in progadelia for their own indulgence. The longest song here is the semi-titular closer “The Future’s Calling” at an airier 6:22, until the penultimate “Taste for Tragic,” the album shifts back and forth between three-minute and four-minute tracks, and for seven of nine inclusions, that pattern results in a raucous, largely uptempo rager.

But there’s no dumbing-down happening anywhere. Gone Cosmic aren’t trying to curb their impulses — again, the ethos “To Refuse Compromise” — so much as bring the listener to their level. And Send for a Warning, the Future’s Calling can be challenging to keep up with as it moves from one side to the other on diagonals, angular corners, forward thrust, reverse transwarp and all this, but the songwriting on the whole is no less a consideration than the instrumental contributions — vocals included — on which it’s built. Even as “Taste for Tragic” gallops to its finish to let the swaying shove of “The Future’s Calling” take hold for an early throwdown before the space-out begins, there’s intent if not staid poise — there isn’t really staid anything — and by the time the album gets to that point, you’re either on board with the band having earned enough trust to believe they’ll make it work, which they do, or you’ve already stopped listening and it doesn’t matter anyhow, except to say you’re missing out and it’s your loss, etc.

One way or the other, Gone Cosmic‘s 39-minute stretch on Send for a Warning, the Future’s Calling draws from multiple sides, and if I’ve focused on the progressivism above, it’s because that’s the underlying foundation, but be sure, there’s plenty of blues rock, psychedelia and outright heavy-heavy to go along with that, and the band’s sense of fluidity emerges from the interaction of elements, stylistic and practical, as they recast genre to suit their purposes. Is it the future? I don’t know. It’s born of the past but not hindered by sentimentality for it, and the command of craft certainly comes across as forward-thinking, but one generally thinks of the future these days as a dark and dystopian place — you know, like the present — and Gone Cosmic here are pushing a brighter but nonetheless realistic vision. I wouldn’t know the future if it punched me in the throat, and maybe that’s what’s going on with “The Wrong Side of Righteous,” but I’ll say that I wouldn’t mind if this was it.

Preorder link and sundry PR wire info follow the premiere of “For Sabotage,” which is on the player below.

Enjoy:

Gone Cosmic, “For Sabotage” track premiere

Abbie Thurgood on “For Sabotage”:

“We are constantly challenged by competitive societal attitudes such as ‘at all costs’ and ‘must win’ mentalities. ‘For Sabotage’ explores stepping outside of these norms and expectations that are ingrained in us encouraging the ability to see consequential thought processes and objectively view one’s path rather than being reactionary. ‘For Sabotage’ is a call to be more kind to oneself and to listen pursue and trust our own individual thought processes.”

Buy the CD/Vinyl here: https://gonecosmic.bandcamp.com/

Gone Cosmic – For Sabotage
Written and performed by Gone Cosmic from album ‘Send for a Warning, the Future’s Calling’ releasing on September 1, 2022
Produced, Recorded, and Mixed by Josh Rob Gwilliam at OCL Studios in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Mastered by Brian “Big Bass” Gardner
Art by Brock Lefferts
Album release via Grand Hand Records.
Copyright and Publishing 2022 Gone Cosmic Entertainment

Championed by a soaring songstress Abbie Thurgood (The Torchettes), whose boldly evocative tones recall Skunk Anansie chanteuse Skin and Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard, and accompanied by an agile and aggressive psych-rock outfit, composed of guitarist Devin “Darty” Purdy (Chron Goblin), bass player Brett Whittingham (Chron Goblin), percussionist Marcello Castronuovo (Witchstone), Gone Cosmic has carved out an expansive domain that stretches from sweltering Southern sludge pits to breath-stealing sonic spacewalks.

A blood (orange)-scented breeze that bows the trees, Gone Cosmic chases the infinite haze from the skies and puts it right back in your eyes. Groove-mining breakdowns become the stuff of legend as the four pieces’ floor-thudding tail kick and hellfire halo holler originates a whole that is far more potent than the sum of its individual elements. Meet your new astromancers, the phase-shifting and hard-rocking force that channels the empyreal sounds of heaven on Earth. – Christine Leonard (Beatroute AB, Canada)

GONE COSMIC is
Abbie Thurgood – Vocals
Devin “Darty” Purdy – Guitar
Brett Whittingham – Bass
Marcello Castronuovo – Drums

Gone Cosmic, Send for a Warning, the Future’s Calling (2022)

Gone Cosmic on Facebook

Gone Cosmic on Instagram

Gone Cosmic on Bandcamp

Grand Hand Records on Facebook

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Gone Cosmic Announce Send for a Warning, the Future’s Calling out Sept. 2

Posted in Whathaveyou on June 7th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

gone cosmic

That’s some stomp in the leadoff track from Gone Cosmic‘s new album, Send for a Warning, The Future’s Calling. You can hear even in the snare sound of “Crimson Hand,” for example, that the band are trying to distinguish themselves, and that’s before you get to the fun of the start-stop solo in the second half of the hard-boogie, three-and-a-half-minute, got-no-time-for-your-nonsense rhythm. I guess the irony here is that the follow-up to 2019’s Sideways in Time (review here) was recorded in 2020, which now is the past even before it can come out heralding its warning about the future — do you think it’s about gas prices? — but that was going to be the case anyway, even if perhaps in other circumstances it wouldn’t have taken as long for it to get out.

So it goes. Note that like its predecessor, Send for a Warning, the Future’s Calling references time in the title if not mentioning it directly. Curious to hear how the rest of the record is produced and just how deep Gone Cosmic go in finding a niche for themselves. And also to see whether or not the album was held back in part so the band could tour and if, where, when that might happen.

Maybe asking more questions than I’m answering, but that’s hype in the age of no-sleep. The PR wire takes it from here:

gone cosmic send for a warning the future's calling

Canadian hard blues rockers GONE COSMIC to issue new album “Send for a Warning, the Future’s Calling” this fall; stream new track “Crismon Hand”!

Calgary, Alberta’s psychedelic hard rockers GONE COSMIC announce the release of their new album ‘Send for a Warning, the Future’s Calling’, due out September 2nd on Grand Hand Records. Listen to their raucous new single “Crimson Hand.”!

About this new song, vocalist Abbie Thurgood comments: “People are complex entities on their own individual paths and it’s important to determine which people in your life may actually be a detriment to you. I have been in multiple situations where people have been very comfortable to take, so they took until there wasn’t much left for me to give. There’s an ignorance in these situations, on my part, in being too trusting and giving the benefit of the doubt. Crimson Hand is a reflection on these types of relationships and the importance of self-awareness and self-worth.”

Featuring nine progressive psych-blues anthems designed to upgrade your sonic synapsis. GONE COSMIC’s sophomore album “Send for a Warning, the Future’s Calling” was recorded in November 2020 at OCL Studios. It was produced, mixed and recorded by Josh Rob Gwilliam (Ghosts of Modern Man, JJ Shiplet, Michael Bernard Fitzgerald), and mastered by Grammy Award-winning mastering engineer Brian “Big Bass” Gardner (Dr. Dre, David Bowie, Outkast, The Melvins, Rush).

New album ‘Send for a Warning, the Future’s Calling’
Out September 2nd on Grand Hand Records – PREORDER: https://gonecosmic.bandcamp.com/album/send-for-a-warning-the-futures-calling

TRACKLIST:
1. Crimson Hand
2. For Sabotage
3. Envy Thrives
4. Causeway
5. The Wrong Side of Righteous
6. Endless
7. To Refuse Compromise
8. Taste for Tragic
9. The Future’s Calling

A blood (orange)-scented breeze that bows the trees, GONE COSMIC chases the infinite haze from the skies and puts it right back in your eyes. Groove-mining breakdowns become the stuff of legend as the four pieces’ floor-thudding tail kick and hellfire halo holler originates a whole that is far more potent than the sum of its individual elements.

Pivoting on the acute juxtaposition of Abbie Thurgood’s soulful vocals and the galvanizing dexterity of Devin (Darty) Purdy’s promethean guitar runs, GONE COSMIC’s sidereal style is emboldened by an equally accomplished and inventive rhythm section, comprising bassist Brett Whittingham and percussionist Marcello Castronuovo. Issuing a universal invitation to emerge from the suspended animation of quarantine and share in their lusty deconstructive discoveries, Gone Cosmic’s stunning future dispatches are set to transmute that which is set in stone back into primordial lava. Their debut album “Sideways In Time” was released in 2019 through Kozmik Artifactz.

GONE COSMIC is
Abbie Thurgood – Vocals
Devin “Darty” Purdy – Guitar
Brett Whittingham – Bass
Marcello Castronuovo – Drums

https://www.facebook.com/gonecosmic/
https://www.instagram.com/gonecosmic/
https://gonecosmic.bandcamp.com

https://www.facebook.com/GrandHandRecords/

Gone Cosmic, Send for a Warning, the Future’s Calling (2022)

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The Electric Highway 2020: Full Lineup & Pre-Party Announced

Posted in Whathaveyou on February 12th, 2020 by JJ Koczan

the electric highway poster

Last time, when The Electric Highway 2020 called out its preliminary lineup, I decided to roll with calling it the inaugural-ish edition of the Calgary-based festival, as it’s grown out of the 420 Music & Arts Festival of years prior, but still, there’s no question they’re doing it up for the occasion of the new name and presentation. Poster art by none other than David Paul Seymour has been unveiled, Mothership have joined on with Sasquatch, Wo Fat and Duel near the top of a Texas-dominant lineup — Sasquatch being the outlier geographically — and a pre-show has been announced with Seattle’s Year of the Cobra crossing the border to headline. These updates would seem to complete the proceedings as they’ll proceed, but of course April’s still a couple months out and you know, subject to change and all that. Still, it looks like a pretty badass time if you can make it.

Info came down the PR wire:

Festival Line-Up Announced! All Roads Lead To The Electric Highway In Calgary, AB, Canada!

Buckle up for The Electric Highway Festival, two days of killer bands, rad artists and fuzzy vibes April 17 & 18, 2020 at the historic Royal Canadian Legion #1 in downtown Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

The Electric Highway Festival has completed its lineup with the addition of the mighty Mothership from Dallas, Texas. The Supersonic Intergalactic Heavy Rock trio’s goal from the beginning has been to carry on the tradition of the classic rock style of the ’70s, updated and amped up for the modern-day. Mothership have created a unique sound that satisfies like a steaming hot stew of UFO and Iron Maiden, blended with the southern swagger of Molly Hatchet and ZZ Top, paired with a deadly chalice of Black Sabbath. Do not miss this chance to hop on board and join Mothership as they tear across the Universal Cosmos!

The Electric Highway Festival has also added Vancouver’s Empress to the lineup. Both Mothership and Empress will be performing at the festival on Saturday, April 18, 2020. That brings the total number of bands performing during the festival to 22.

The Electric Highway Festival is excited to release its official artwork created by the renowned dark surreal artist David Paul Seymour. David Paul Seymour is an internationally known illustrator based in Minneapolis, MN who has created artwork for Municipal Waste, Conan, Mastodon as well as Shadow Weaver and Wo Fat who are both performing at The Electric Highway Festival in 2020. David Paul Seymour is also a driving force behind The Planet of Doom, an Animated Tale of Metal and Art and the creator of the Kumasan comic series.

The rest of the 2020 lineup brings an electric offering of North American bands featuring headliners Sasquatch and Wo Fat laying down their brand of fuzzy, kick-ass Desert Rock & Heavy Psych. Duel from Austin, Texas will be playing Canada for the 1st time at The Electric Highway Festival along with Hippie Death Cult & LáGoon both from Portland, Oregon. Festival favorites La Chinga return from Vancouver for their 4th appearance and Calgary’s Gone Cosmic & Buzzard from Victoria, BC are just a few more of the wicked bands that will be playing on two stages over the two days of The Electric Highway Festival, the full lineup below.

The Electric Highway Official Lineup:
Sasquatch (Los Angeles, CA)
Wo Fat (Dallas, TX)
Mothership (Dallas, TX)
Duel (Austin, TX)
La Chinga (Vancouver, BC)
Gone Cosmic (Calgary, AB)
Hippie Death Cult (Portland, OR)
LáGoon (Portland, OR)
Buzzard (Victoria, BC)
Chunkasaurus (Victoria, BC)
Bazaraba (Calgary, AB)
Shadow Weaver (Calgary, AB)
Father Moon (Calgary, AB)
Set & Stoned (Crossfield, AB)
Row of Giants (Calgary, AB)
Hemptress (Kamloops, BC)
Pink Cocoon (Montreal, QC)
The Sleeping Legion (Winnipeg, MB)
The Basement Paintings (Saskatoon, SK)
Empress (Vancouver, BC)
Locutus (Calgary, AB)
The Worst (Calgary, AB)

The Electric Highway Festival is also getting the whole thing started with a Kick-Off Party on Thursday, April 16th, 2020 at The Palomino Smokehouse & Social Club. This killer line up features Seattle powerhouse psychedelic doom duo Year of the Cobra as they return to Calgary. They will be joined by Calgary’s Bloated Pig, Outlaws of Ravenhurst, and newcomers Falcotron along with Red Deer’s Smoothsayer.

2 Day Festival Pass holders can pick up their wristbands a day early at The Electric Highway Festival Kick-Off Party. This event will be free for festival pass holders or $13 at the door for non-pass holders. (Space is limited so make sure to get their early!) Pre-order merch sales will also be available for pick up at this event too. Beat the lineup and come for some bands, beer & BBQ at the Pal!

The Electric Highway 2020 —> www.facebook.com/events/1346173098884903/
The Electric Highway Kickoff Party—> www.facebook.com/events/809469542830729/
The Electric Highway Pinball Tournament —> www.facebook.com/events/2408742202725992/
The Electric Highway Arts Expo & Market —> www.facebook.com/events/476224713238363/

“All Roads Lead to the Electric Highway”

www.facebook.com/ElectricHighwayFestival/
www.instagram.com/TheElectricHighway
www.TheElectricHighway.ca

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The Electric Highway Announces Inaugural Lineup with Wo Fat, Sasquatch, Nebula & More

Posted in Whathaveyou on November 6th, 2019 by JJ Koczan

A little bit of Cali, a little bit of Texas, a little bit of Portland, Oregon, and a whole lot of locals — the first lineup for The Electric Highway has been unveiled and the Calgary-based festival’s mission would seem to be directed toward kickass heavy and stoner rock. Thus, Sasquatch and Wo Fat headlining with Nebula and Duel also on board. And hey man, if you threw any kind of heavy rock and roll party in the entire nation of Canada — and Canada if frickin’ huge — and you didn’t at least invite La Chinga let alone actually have them play, your ass would just be negligent. That’s a band that’s never gonna do anything but make a strong rock bill stronger.

Calling this the inaugural The Electric Highway is fair enough, since it seems to be working under its own concept — pinball tournament! — but it formerly operated under the banner of the 420 Music and Arts Festival, and had a few years to its credit in that form. Still, a new name is a new name, so alright. Maybe “inaugural” with an asterisk. “Inaugural-ish.”

The PR wire has details. The fest has a hashtag that’s probably good advice anyway:

the electric highway poster

All Roads Lead To The Electric Highway Festival In Calgary, AB, Canada!

#BuckleUp baby, The Electric Highway is excited to announce our inaugural lineup! We wanted to put something special together for our first trip on the Highway and with over 20 bands in two daze, we think we have done exactly that…

Day One, Friday, April 17th Wo Fat from Dallas, Texas will be returning with their brand of Psychedelic Heavy Blues to headline night one, and we are flying in their bro’s in DUEL to share the stage with them that night too! Also laying waste to Friday night are BC’s Buzzard & CHUNKASAURUS, coming all the way from Portland, Oregon we have Hippie Death Cult & LáGoon, joining us from Montreal is PINK COCOON, and representing our amazing local scene will be Father Moon, Locutus, Row of Giants and The WORST.

Then on Day Two, Saturday, April 18th bringing the fuzz from California, we are STOKED AF to welcome back the mighty Sasquatch to headline our whole party and are psyched to have their buds Nebula along for the ride! As for the rest of Saturday, it just wouldn’t be a party without Vancouver’s La Chinga on the bill, along with local faves Gone Cosmic, Bazaraba, and Shadow Weaver from Calgary, Crossfield, Alberta’s Set & Stoned, Hemptress from Kamloops, BC, The Sleeping Legion from Winnipeg and rounding out our first lineup, from Saskatoon, The Basement Paintings.

The Electric Highway is taking place at the Royal Canadian Legion #1 in downtown Calgary, AB, Canada on April 17 & 18, 2020. Tickets go on sale at 10am MDT on Tuesday, November 5, 2019 at https://theelectrichighway.ecwid.com/.

The Electric Highway Official Lineup:
Sasquatch (Los Angeles, CA)
Wo Fat (Dallas, TX)
Nebula (Los Angeles, CA)
Duel (Austin, TX)
La Chinga (Vancouver, BC)
Gone Cosmic (Calgary, AB)
Hippie Death Cult (Portland, OR)
LáGoon (Portland, OR)
Buzzard (Victoria, BC)
Chunkasaurus (Victoria, BC)
Bazaraba (Calgary, AB)
Shadow Weaver (Calgary, AB)
Father Moon (Calgary, AB)
Set & Stoned (Crossfield, AB)
Row of Giants (Calgary, AB)
Hemptress (Kamloops, BC)
Pink Cocoon (Montreal, QC)
The Sleeping Legion (Winnipeg, MB)
The Basement Paintings (Saskatoon, SK)
Locutus (Calgary, AB)
The Worst (Calgary, AB)

The Electric Highway 2020 —> www.facebook.com/events/1346173098884903/
The Electric Highway Kickoff Party—> www.facebook.com/events/809469542830729/
The Electric Highway Pinball Tournament —> www.facebook.com/events/2408742202725992/
The Electric Highway Arts Expo & Market —> www.facebook.com/events/476224713238363/

#BuckleUp

“All Roads Lead to the Electric Highway”

www.facebook.com/ElectricHighwayFestival/
www.instagram.com/TheElectricHighway
www.TheElectricHighway.ca

Sasquatch, Live at Ace of Cups, Columbus, Ohio, Sept. 8, 2019

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