Posted in Whathaveyou on December 21st, 2023 by JJ Koczan
The stoned wanderings of Wisconsin crust-sludge trail-and-whatever-else-you-got-blazers Bongzilla will lead the three-piece abroad once again this coming Spring. They go in support of 2023’s Dab City (review here) and in glorious pursuit of new heights of consciousness and probably trying not to forget stuff along the way. They spent most of this year on the road through the US, hitting both coasts — you’ll recall ‘Dabbing Westward,’ which was incredibly, incredibly clever — and points between, but also did a huge UK/Euro run.
Heading back to Europe is fair game for the kingpins, who’ll start at the Go Down Records-affiliated Maximum Festival before appearing at both Heavy Psych Fests in Italy, heading north for Desertfest Oslo, and looping back down through Germany and France. There are a couple dates to fill, and though I was a little surprised not to see the tour go through Desertfest London and to end before Desertfest Berlin happens, looking back, they were in Berlin on the 2023 tour and they played London in 2022. After that, the inaugural Oslo edition seems like a good way to go in making the rounds, out-stonering the universe as they will.
The poster rules and of course the tour was put together by Heavy Psych Sounds, who sent this down the PR wire:
*** BONGZILLA – Spring European Tour 2024 ***
– the Weedsconsin riffers are back in Europe –
We are stoked to announce that our weed metal wizards BONGZILLA will tour Europe in 2024 !!!
!! STILL FEW OPEN SLOTS !!
*** BONGZILLA ***
SPRING EUROPEAN TOUR 2024
FR. 26.04.24 IT ZERO BRANCO – MAXIMUM FESTIVAL SA. 27.04.24 OPEN SLOT SU. 28.04.24 HR ZAGREB – MOČVARA MO. 29.04.24 TR ISTANBUL – DOROCK HEAVY METAL CLUB TU. 30.04.24 GR ATHENS – ARCH CLUB WE. 01.05.24 GR THESSALONIKI – BLOCK 33 TH. 02.05.24 OPEN SLOT FR. 03.05.24 IT BOLZANO – PIPPO STAGE SA. 04.05.24 IT TRIESTE – HPS FEST ITALY SU. 05.05.24 IT BOLOGNA – HPS FEST ITALY MO. 06 05.24 FR CHAMBERY – BRIN DE ZINC WE. 08.05.24 NL DRACHTEN – IDUNA TH. 09.05.24 NL HAARLEM – PATRONAAT FR. 10.05.24 NL EINDHOVEN – CAFE THE JACKS SA. 11.05.24 NO OSLO – DESERTFEST OSLO SU. 12.05.24 OPEN SLOT MO. 13.05.24 DE COLOGNE – MTC TU. 14.05.24 FR PARIS – GLAZART WE. 15.05.24 OPEN SLOT TH. 16.05.24 FR STRASBOURG – LA MAISON BLEUE FR. 17.05.24 CH DUDINGEN – BAD BONN SA. 18.05.24 IT BERGAMO – PACI PACIANA
BONGZILLA is Mike “Muleboy” Makela – Bass / Vocals Jeff “Spanky” Schultz – Guitars Mike “Magma” Henry – Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 13th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Italy’s Hijss — which I’ve also seen stylized as both all-caps and no-caps, so I think maybe they’re flexible — will make their full-length debut on March 8 through Heavy Psych Sounds with Stuck on Common Ground. To mark the launch of preorders and in keeping with the label’s general modus, the first single has been unveiled as “1234me,” which you’ll find in the video embed at the bottom of this post. Playing to some skate competition or other in the clip suits the crunchy riff and spacey groove well, a style the PR wire calls ‘cosmic grunge,’ which isn’t quite entirely representative of “1234me,” but if you remember grunge as born out of punk and noise and take the space, psychedelia and atmospherics from ‘cosmic,’ you’re at least on your way.
“1234me” first showed up on Hijss‘ Bandcamp in late 2021 alongside the moodier “Narcolepsy” (just a bit of Clutch‘s blues in the vocals and mellow vibe there before it picks up in the second half) which will open side B when it appears on Stuck on Common Ground. The two tracks together show some measure of range between them and I wouldn’t be surprised if the record went a few weirder places considering the open-feeling approach to craft it takes, but of course we have a while before we get there. Everything’s a process. The PR wire began this one thusly:
HIJSS – Stuck On Common Ground
RELEASE DATE: MARCH 8th
Today we are stoked to start the presale of the upcoming HIJSS debut album STUCK ON COMMON GROUND !!!
RELEASED IN 10 ULTRA LTD TEST PRESS VINYL 100 ULTRA LTD TRANSP. BACK. SPLATTER BLUE/ORANGE VINYL 350 LTD MAGENTA VINYL BLACK VINYL DIGIPAK DIGITAL
ALBUM DESCRIPTION
Stuck on common ground is the debut album of the Italian Power Trio hijss.
With a mixture of heavy blues influenced riffs and synthesized Krautrock parts hijss tries to create a high dynamic range that will keep your attention at all time. On top of gritty basslines and ferocious drums lie cosmic guitars, tantalizing vocals and arpeggiated electronic drones. All three band members come from a vast musical background. Their common denominator is with out a doubt a punkish attitude.
The album was produced by Toni Quiroga and hijss, drums were recorded at Nologo Recording Studio, Laives by “holy barbarian” Fabio Sforza. Engineered, mixed and mastered at accept productions by Toni Quiroga, album cover by Luca Guarino.
TRACKLIST
SIDE A INGRAVED – 02:48 1234 ME – 04:37 HEADLESS BLUES – 03:12 INTERLUDE #1 – 02:30 TRAIN TRACKS – 04:08
SIDE B NARCOLEPSY – 04:19 BLACK DISEASE – 04:14 INTERLUDE #2 – 00:56 BLOW OUT – 03:43 TILT MODE – 06:12
CREDITS Composer Name: Alexander Ebner, Heinrich Pan, Maurice Bellotti Songwriter: Alexander Ebner Producer: accept productions, Toni Quiroga & hijss Label: Heavy Psych Sounds Records Recorded: drums at Nologo Recording Studio, Laives (BZ) by “holy barbarian” Fabio Sforza Engineer: accept productions, Toni Quiroga Mixed: accept productions, Toni Quiroga Mastered: accept productions, Toni Quiroga Cover Artwork: Luca Guarino
BIOGRAPHY
From northern Italy’s summits, through clouds and airplanes, a wall of sound spirals downhill as hijss marks its birth. Stimulated by the musical instinct of the band’s mastermind Lois Lane (guitar & vocals), Maurice’s (drums) ferocious hits and Pan’s (bass & synth) catchy scales the music does not only scratch the surface but goes deep under your skin. The band puts genres in the background zapping from punk over blues to space and psychedelic rock. The outcome is a melting pot called: cosmic grunge. That means whatever you want it to mean …
HIJSS is Lois Lane – guitar/vocals Maurice – drums Pan – bass/synth
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 12th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Okeydokey, what do we learn here? Bongzilla will be in Europe this Spring, and Mondo Generator will be out to follow up on Nick Oliveri‘s winter solo tour, and Kadabra will go supporting their most excellent 2023 outing, Umbra (review here), though that was already apparent from the first Desertfest London announce. Along with MR.BISON, the esteemed Ufomammut — who’ll have a new LP out sometime in 2024, allegedly — Greek mainstays Nightstalker and upstarts 1782, speedrockers Tankzilla and punkers The Clamps, that’s the bill as it stands that will swap acts back and forth across two nights in Bologna and Trieste next May for Heavy Psych Sounds Fest Italy 2024.
This is not the end of the announcements, of course, but it’s a rousing start as the Italian label and booking agency continues to branch out to new places. You’ll note Trieste is home for Rocket Panda Management, who are involved here and also behind the StonerKras Fest that’s taken place the last couple of years later in the summer. I assume that’s still happening too, and will do so until I hear or see otherwise.
I don’t have numbers on the site’s readership in Bologna or Trieste, but I think these things are relevant anyway exactly because of the above: they show you who’s going to be where when. And it gives me an excuse to post the Kadabra record again. Double-win.
From the PR wire:
Heavy Psych Sounds to announce HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST ITALY 2024 Bologna & Trieste – TICKETS PRESALE + FIRST BANDS !!!
Heavy Psych Sounds Records & Booking will smash Bologna and for the first time Trieste with their highly acclaimed mini festival-series, the HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST!
In cooperation with Freakout Club and Rocket Panda Management, today Heavy Psych Sounds has announced the first confirmed bands + TICKETS PRESALE for the upcoming HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST ITALY 2024 !!!
The HPS Fest Italy will be taking place 3rd and 4th of May at the Teatro Miela in Trieste and 4th and 5th of May at the TPO Club in Bologna !!!
HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST ITALY 2024 – BOLOGNA & TRIESTE
@ TPO, Bologna // 4th and 5th May 2024
@ Teatro Miela, Trieste // 3rd and 4th May 2024
feat. BONGZILLA MONDO GENERATOR UFOMAMMUT NIGHTSTALKER 1782 KADABRA MR. BISON TANKZILLA THE CLAMPS + more TBA
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 7th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Nick Oliveri has put out records this year with Mondo Generator and The Dwarves. He’s toured incessantly, either on his own like the ‘Death Acoustic’ — as opposed to ‘death metal’ — European run he’s got scheduled for early 2024, or with Mondo Generator, who are a trio on fire with Mike Pygmie on guitar and Mike Amster on drums, and in the last couple years, he’s brought forth and developed the band Stöner with former Kyuss bandmate and longtime collaborator Brant Bjork, issuing two albums, a live record and an EP to-date while also touring domestically and abroad to support. He’s done nothing the last few years but work, and to see him on stage as I’ve been lucky enough to do twice in the last two years with Mondo Generator, he’s both a frontman of marked presence and a raw-as-nails punk rocker with a scream that’s unmistakable.
What will next year bring? One assumes more. Oliveri obviously wants to keep momentum on his side, and with full-band stints likely to follow (or precede; one never knows) these March dates, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to expect more word soon. That’s before you get to festivals and all that.
From the PR wire:
NICK OLIVERI – Death Acoustic 2024
– new updated shows – WE 06.03.24 IT TREVIGLIO – NAMA BREWING TH 07.03.24 IT RAVENNA – BRONSON FR 08.03.24 IT PORDENONE – ASTRO CLUB SA 09.03.24 PT TORRES VEDRAS – BANG VENUE SU 10.03.24 DE RAVENSBURG – IRISH PUB SLAINTE MO 11.03.24 DE WEIDEN – SALUTE LIVE CLUB TU 12.03.24 DE OPEN SLOT WE 13.03.24 NL ARNHEM – LUXOR LIVE TH 14.03.24 ES BILBAO – GROOVE FR 15.03.24 ES MADRID – WURLITZER BALLROOM SA 16.03.24 ES BARCELONA – SIDECAR SU 17.03.24 NL DORDRECHT – NL BIBELOT POPPODIUM MO 18.03.24 UK DOVER – THE BOOKING HALL TU 19.03.24 UK NEWCASTLE – THE CLUNY WE 20.03.24 UK GLASGOW – SLAY STUDIO TH 21.03.24 UK BOLTON – ALMA INN FR 22.03.24 UK CARDIFF – FUEL SA 23.03.24 UK LONDON – SIGNATURE BREW SU 24.03.24 UK BOURNEMOUTH – BEAR CAVE TU 26.03.24 NL DEN HAAG – PAARD WE 27.03.24 NL ALKMAAR – VICTORIE
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 5th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
The debut album from Portland, Oregon’s Tigers on Opium will be issued through Heavy Psych Sounds, as the Italian imprint announced last week. The well-mustachioed four-piece have two EPs — the latest of them is 2022’s 503.420.6669.vol_two, which featured the single “The Perfect Cocktail” (premiered here) that was also released separately — and various other short releases under their collective belt, and to go with the unveiling of preorders, artwork and album details for their first long-player, they’ve got the first single streaming as well, which is how you do. The album is called Psychodrama, and fair enough.
Last week was the Quarterly Review, so I didn’t get to post the signing announcement as I otherwise would have. I’ll take the opportunity to congratulate the band on the deal. Especially if you have any kind of mind toward European touring, pretty much ever, Heavy Psych Sounds is where you want to be right now. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure Nuclear Blast would take them abroad too, but then the band would have to trigger the drums on all their studio output. That ain’t helping. The first single from the record, called “Sky Below My Feet,” has a right on hook and a lead riff that reminds of ’80s metal without actually trying to be it, midsection gets a little Green Lungy, minus the folklore, plus some QOTSA bounce. At the bottom of the post.
Alright, to the information! From the PR wire:
Heavy Psych Sounds to announce TIGERS ON OPIUM signing for their debut full length !!!
Psychodrama is Tigers on Opium’s debut full length.
A structured form of therapy in which a person dramatizes a personal problem or conflict, usually in front of a group of other therapy participants. The other participants usually take part in the drama, though each performance focuses on a single person’s concerns. The goal of psychodrama therapy is to work together in a group to achieve a better understanding of past traumas and the influence they can create, the members must feel willing to work together.
“When I came across the idea of psychodrama therapy, I started to think about how we have so many joint experiences as a society that currently happen or have happened, and how they shape both our singular and collective consciousness. Music has always been a form of therapy for not just me, but a massive amount of the people in the world. I started to conceptualize this as an idea for the album, thinking that we all have so many connections to major/micro events in time, and generally similar interpretations of them. Like the idea of a psychodrama therapy session, I started to envision how the songs could play out about these different moments… Almost like vignettes or snapshots of life, with the song playing the role of the individual, and the listeners playing the role of the group.” — Juan Carlos Caceres (vocals/guitar/keys)
The album PSYCHODRAMA explores various psychological and social experiences that have shaped our cultural evolution. Occultism, Propaganda, Atomic Warfare, Media Consumption, Religion, Social unrest, Nostalgia, Mental Struggle, Pop Culture, Revolution, and Change – are all themes explored throughout the album.
Out via Heavy Psych Sounds on March 1st 2024.
Produced by Juan Carlos Caceres Engineered by Jeanot Lewis-Rolland and Adam Bradley Pike. Tracked in Portland, OR at JLR Audio Productions, Dream Awake Studio, and Toadhouse Recording Drum Tech Ben Engen Mixed by Adam Bradley Pike at Toadhouse Recording in Portland, OR Mastered by Jack Endino in Seattle, WA All songs by Tigers on Opium Lyrics by Juan Carlos Caceres All songs published by Triangles Around Us (BMI) Artwork by Branca Studio
TIGERS ON OPIUM is Juan Carlos Caceres – Lead Vocals, Guitars, Synths, Piano Nate Wright – Drums, Vocals Charles Hodge – Bass, Vocals Jeanot Lewis-Rolland – Guitars, Vocals
Posted in Bootleg Theater on November 24th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
As evidenced by the ‘review here’ parenthetical I’m about to put behind the album’s title, I did in fact review Kadabra‘s second album, Umbra (review here), which came out last month on Heavy Psych Sounds, and you know what? I stand by that review. Maybe I was feeling a little cheeky at the time, but if you’re going to do this thing — to hone a sound that’s sharp in its execution and clever in its turns, but carries both memorable melodicism and an overarching groove — this is the way to do it. “The Serpent,” the video for which premiered sometime in the past few weeks, brings this into clearest emphasis. Songwriting is first but the performances throughout are stellar, and in the Washington trio’s skillful hands, choruses gain persona and Umbra builds an atmosphere not only through the strut of instrumental opener “White Willows” or in the organ-laced midsection of the later “Mountain Tamer” or in acoustic finale “The Serpent II,” which reprises the central melody of “The Serpent” — that clip below — and gives the record a sense of completion beyond 2021’s Ultra (review here).
“I’m at the altar/Dagger in hand” is a key line in conveying the song’s ritual-sacrifice theme. Of course, the “serpent” itself — the image — is rooted in religious dogma and aligned with malevolence. The serpent is Satan. It creeps. It bites. It poisons. Etc. The snake that, by its very nature, betrays you. On the record, “The Serpent” arrives after the volleys of “High Priestess” and “Midnight Hour” have picked up and added to the momentum coming off “White Willows,” bringing the sense of threat that “The Serpent” makes plain lyrically and fostering a similarly rich blend of thickened, doomly tones, classic heavy rock manifest via organ, rampant melodic hooks and choice riffs. Kadabra — the three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Garrett Zanol, bassist Ian Nelson and drummer Chase Howard — established this in the first record as the core of their methodology and the backdrop against which their development as a group would take place. In short, Umbra is the manifestation of that growth, both in its air-tight A side — looking at you, “High Priestess” and in the movement through “The Devil” into the pre-closer pair of longer tracks “Battle of Avalon” (7:26) and “Mountain Tamer” (8:03).
Those two are an immersion unto themselves, and Kadabra deftly draw the listener there with “The Serpent” and “The Devil” beginning a shortest-to-longest procession that will continue until the acoustic redirect of “The Serpent II” rounds out, sort of booking an album that break down to more than just one side and the other. “Battle of Avalon” is full in its movement but has dreamier stretches in its second half atop the declarative toms of Howard and some militaristic snare soon to take hold. “Mountain Tamer” –presumably not named in honor of the Californian band but you never know — flows with an easy nod at its outset and gives an addled sway until a crescendo of layered melodic vocals on the line, “In your eyes…” and a wah-soaked solo provide the album’s peak stretch and a righteous if momentary jam as they bring it back around to that hook before the fadeout on the long-held organ note and residual rumble, some sparse aftermath noise setting up “The Serpent II” in its own place, a kind of perch, from which it looks down and folkishly recalls recent horrors.
As a matter of principle, I don’t know shit about shit. As a human being, I’m largely incapable of handling even the basic functions and interactions one needs to get through a day — yesterday I joked about getting “JOMO” tattooed across my next in olde English letters because that’s how committed to my own misery I apparently am. But I’ll tell you something else. This record has burrowed its way into my fucking head such that even after a month and a half I decided to write about Umbra again. Whatever one might think of its themes, this is one of 2023’s best heavy rock offerings. The songs are inarguable. I’m putting this year to tell you that if you haven’t heard it, you should, and to give a heads up for a third Kadabra record hopefully sometime in the next couple years, because if they take a step from here like they did from Ultra to Umbra, then everything they will have done leading to it will have been a show of potential not to be missed and instructive for bands in their wake. It ain’t a secret and it ain’t easy. Write songs.
Or, to put it another way: This is how you fucking do it.
Here’s a video from the internet. I hope you enjoy:
Kadabra, “The Serpent” official video
SAYS THE BAND: The song “The Serpent” details the internal battle of temptation the continually rears it’s head. “The Witch” refers to somewhat of a paralysis figure the constantly holds me back from progression. The Witch is described as being defeated by the serpent aka myself. – Garrett Zanol
Music Video produced by Mothpowder Light Show !!
KADABRA is: Garrett Zanol – Vocals/Guitar Ian Nelson – Bass Chase Howard – Drums
Italian heavy psych rockers MR.BISON will release their new album, Echoes From the Universe, through Heavy Psych Sounds on Feb. 16. The Tuscany-based four-piece were announced as having signed to the imprint last week, and today brings preorders and the first song premiere — LP-opener “The Child of the Night Sky” — which is streaming for your pleasure under this text.
Next year will mark the 60th anniversary of the first time humans heard the echo of the Big Bang in cosmic background radiation. MR.BISON, working more on the temporal than the cosmic end of spacetime for this third full-length follow-up to 2020’s Seaward (review here) and their split with Spacetrucker (review here), would seem to use the universe itself as a means of exploring notions beyond linear time, ideas from myth and science fiction combining to give a thematic heart to the proceedings. I haven’t heard the full record yet, but “The Child of the Night Sky” is way tripped out, and if you thought the band — whose moniker you’ve probably seen stylized as Mr. Bison; they reportedly prefer the caps-no-space version — were flexible as they hit into Seaward after 2018’s Holy Oak (review here), the intervening years would not have seemed to lessen that in the slightest.
Song’s here, blue copy follows. Go make friends with it:
MR.BISON, “The Child of the Night Sky” track premiere
MR. BISON – New album “Echoes From The Universe” out February 16th on Heavy Psych Sounds
About the album, the band says: “The theme of “Echoes from the Universe” is the attempt, as human and temporal beings, to escape the idea of an alleged destiny predetermination by managing to build one’s own individual life path trough will power. Its concept is based on the of the Norse Norns myth, who weave the threads of universal destiny on a tapestry, in which all existence, in a continuous mix of past, present and future, intersect and influence each other, thereby generating a kaleidoscopic vortex of infinite and unpredictable possibilities. For this reason, we have used them as a symbol of freedom of choice, which never excludes but indeed implies, the element of chance.”
The artwork designed by Django Nokes reflects the Concept perfectly. “Echoes from the Universe” is an evocative soundscapes trip and fresh breeze of groovy beats and psychedelia swaying between sweet moments and massive progressive deliriums.
TRACKLIST
1. The Child Of The Night Sky 2. Collision 3. Dead In The Eye 4. Fragments 5. The Promise 6. The Veil 7. Staring At The Sun
CREDITS
Recorded by Matteo Barsacchi at Blotch Recordings Studio – Cecina (LI) Italy and Nicola Giorgetti at Indipendente Recordings – Matelica (MC) Italy. Mixed by Nicola Giorgetti at Indipendente Recordings – Matelica (MC) Italy. Mastered by Carl Saff at Saff Mastering – Chicago (IL) US
Additional instrumentations by: Fabio Cuomo (Synth, Keyboards “Collision”) Dominik Wichrobrody (Bass “The Fragments) Artwork by Django Nokes
BIOGRAPHY
Mr Bison is a rock band that melts heavy psychedelic sounds with progressive elements and evocative soundscapes.
Formed in a small coastal town in Tuscany / Italy, the band has reinvented their sound over the course of four albums from Stoner/Psych Sounds to Heavy Psychedelic Progressive Sounds,
firmly establishing themselves in 2018 with the acclaimed “HOLY OAK” and the latest Concept Album “SEAWARD”, which suddenly brought them touring around Europe and US many times, attending the best festivals on the scene such as Desertfest Berlin London Antwerp, Krach am Back, Duna Jam ….
The band has just finished the new concept album, produced by guitarist Matteo Barsacchi, mixed by Nicola Giorgetti at the Indipendente Recording Studio and mastered by Carl Saff.
Posted in Bootleg Theater on November 10th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
There was no real arguing with Holy Grove at the time, either. Based in Portland, Oregon, the bluesy heavy psychedelic soul rockers made their self-titled debut (review here) in 2016 through Heavy Psych Sounds. The response, if it wasn’t immediate, was close enough to it to be indistinguishable, and justified. Production by Billy Anderson and Adam Pike and Mike Moore (the latter two overdubs), still-stunning cover art by Adam Burke, a sound as thick as fuzzy as you like and the powerhouse vocals of Andrea Vidal cutting through with command and presence. I don’t want to call it a no-brainer for fear of being misinterpreted as saying the record is dumb, but certainly for those listening to it, the “well duh this sure rules” factor was pretty high.
Holy Grove circa Holy Grove was Vidal, bassist Gregg Emley, guitarist Trent Jacobs and drummer Craig Bradford. The latter didn’t stick around, and the band would go through a succession of drummers for the better part of the next half-decade, even booking a run in early 2020 that would’ve featured Andy Patterson (The Otolith, ex-SubRosa, ex-Iota, etc.) on drums — like everything else that Spring, it was canceled, but the prospect existed — but the groove fostered by the ‘original’ or at least the ‘initial’ lineup of the band wants for nothing. Beginning the seven-track procession with the nodder “Death of Magic” before its apparent revival in the slow-lumbering “Nix” — Emley introducing on bass the central riff that hearkens to C.O.C.‘s “Albatross,” as well as to Quest for Fire and, while we’re on “duh,” Black Sabbath — the album immediately knows its place, what it is, what it wants to do, and why. There is no questioning of purpose, no tentative rolling of metaphoric dice. Sometimes a band just sounds like they know their shit rules. To wit, “Holy Grove.”
From Sleep to All Them Witches, Witch Mountain and YOB and well beyond, Holy Grove seemed content to let the riffs sort out their own place in a heavy underground sphere. Their doom, always heavy, was restrained in its severity by languid tempos and an abiding sense of largesse, and the stops and volume swells and scorching leads of “Holy Grove” demonstrate clearly their focus on craft over specific genre adherence. Their songs, on Holy Grove and its 2018 follow-up, Holy Grove II (review here), can be expansive, crunching or both, and “Nix” early serves as a precursor to the closing duo “Hanged Man” and “Safe Return” later, both of which also top seven minutes in length, while even the shorter, riff-centered “Huntress” — centerpiece of the record, mind you — has an atmospheric impression cast through its tones, the reach of its mix, and the treatment on Vidal‘s vocals, intermittently layered and dynamic in keeping with the instruments surrounding, aligning with the rest of the band for the speedier, ultra-Iommic swing push at the end of “Huntress.”
There wasn’t much more Holy Grove could’ve done to bring people on board, short perhaps of mailing everybody on the planet who might be interested a free copy of the record. The energy of the second half of “Huntress” is maintained into “Caravan,” which offsets the thrust of its verse by opening to a stop in its chorus, Vidal controlling a tempest with backing vocals in a moment reminiscent but not necessarily derivative of Witch Mountain, whose former singer Uta Plotkin seemed capable of similar conjurations but whose style is more doom overall. Jacobs takes a particular burner of a solo in “Caravan” — if it’s been a while since you heard the album, listen for it — and just before giving over to the last two tracks, Holy Grove find the highest gear in terms of shove that they’ll hit on their debut. When “Caravan” stops, it’s a heavy silence.
And at 8:49, “Hanged Man” announces its arrival with far-back, fading-in vocals and a pointed spaciousness reinforced as the guitar holds out its first distorted riff like the version of “Black Sabbath” that might’ve showed up on Dehumanizer had they re-recorded it (and why didn’t they?), and unfurls with patience toward its stop-chug and twist-around blues verse, at once traditional and their own. Guitar howls in the second cycle through, and the roll of the chorus gives over to a consuming tempo push, multi-tiered, that summarizes the trajectory and dynamic the band have employed throughout, whether that’s shifts in volume or meter, mood or vibe, let alone volume. “Hanged Man” slows again to slide into its final hook, and ends big to let the momentum carry over to “Safe Return” (7:20), which rounds out with more bluesy stomp, breadth in its backing-vocal-inclusive chorus, and a raucous finish well earned after the tempo kick.
All this was, was a killer debut record. 2016 had a few of them — King Buffalo, Elephant Tree, Vokonis, Spaceslug, Year of the Cobra, etc. — but Holy Grove stood out because, yes, Vidal is just that kind of a performer, and also because Holy Grove is executed with such clarity of vision. It’s not that the record’s perfect — it’s not supposed to be — but that for what it’s doing, it’s doing it in just the right way for itself. It’s its own thing. It exists within a sphere, a genre, and there are plenty of the pieces that make it that will feel familiar to those who know the style more generally, but beyond those superficialities, the persona of Holy Grove was cast in the lack of pretense of this first record and the absolute heart put into the songs.
It’s been five years, but I’m still hopeful Vidal, Emley, Jacobs and a drummer can get a third full-length together. There was still a lot of potential in II amid the band’s strident progression, but in addition to being interested in how they might have grown, I’d be happy just to have a few more songs from them. They never officially broke up or anything, but there hasn’t been a ton of activity in the last three or so years, which I get. Nonetheless, the revisit here only reminds of why I’d been hopeful in the first place.
As always, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading.
—
Today’s Friday. Kid went to school Monday and Wednesday this week. Tuesday was election day — The Patient Mrs. is now on the school board, which will be good to balance against the two bought-off, book-banning fascists who also got elected — and yesterday and today are teacher’s convention. I don’t know if other states/countries have something similar — probably — but it’s basically two professional development days for teachers, and there is an actual convention they can go to. For kids it’s just days off.
So, days off. Which, of course, are days on.
Yesterday morning dragged so long I’m pretty sure I’m still there. I did finally get the kid out of the house to go to the grocery store, but it was an ‘early Zelda’ day at about 3PM — normally I might try to keep the tv off until 5 or thereabouts — and my back was so sore I could barely move like the entire day, and every word out of The Pecan’s mouth between 5:30AM when she got up and after 9PM when she finally went up to bed because The Patient Mrs. and I were going to bed and I finally convinced her to get the fuck out of our room so we could do that was whined. Whining. All day. Every fucking thing. Whine whine whine. Even about non-complaint stuff. All fucking day. All. Fucking. Day.
I tried to get the babysitter today and she didn’t text me back. I wouldn’t text me back either.
It’s also my sister’s birthday, which is nice. Dinner here, probably. Need to vacuum after working on the kitchen this week, but the new ovens (yes, two) are in and the new cooktop works (though fewer of our pans are induction-ready than we thought), so The Patient Mrs.’ DIY bent continues. She cut out the front of the cabinet to hold the double-oven. It was pretty fucking impressive. Measure twice, and all that.
This weekend is Heavy Psych Sounds in New York. Between family celebration and my back I don’t think I’m going to make it, but if you go there or to Baltimore, have a great time. I’ll be back here on Monday with more shenanigans in pursuit of an eventual sponsorship from Doan’s.
Have fun, be safe, drink water. Thanks for reading.
