Posted in Whathaveyou on February 23rd, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Seattle sludge rockers Sorcia will hit the road in April to support their Desert Records-issued sophomore LP, Lost Season (review here), on a weekend-to-weekend stint around their appearance at Rocky Mountain Riff Fest in Kalispell, Montana, on April 20. Before they get there, of particular note is the Road to Riff Fest Showcase in Spokane on April 19, at which Sorcia will be joined by Mos Generator and Merlock, both also making their way to Kalispell the next day.
The regional run is certainly welcome news, and it follows a broader West Coast tour the trio undertook last summer around the time of Lost Season‘s July release. Still, Substation aside, it’s at least Sorcia‘s third escape from Seattle (cue a grunge-era Snake Plissken in the best movie the ’90s never made, and not a gritty reboot), and an occasion worth marking all the more with a revisit to the album, which you’ll find streaming below should you want to lose your head again in the lumber of “Entering the Eighth House,” which, yeah, you probably do.
Info from the PR wire:
Sorcia Spring Tour 2024
đ¨TOUR ANNOUNCEMENTđ¨
We are very excited to announce our Spring Tour 2024! We look forward to shaking walls around the NW with so many amazing bands as we make our trek to Rocky Mountain Riff Fest and back. More details to come, so mark your calendars and stay tuned!
4/18 – Ray’s Golden Lion | Richland, WA 4/19 – Road To Riff Fest Showcase | The District Bar | Spokane, WA 4/20 – Rocky Mountain Riff Fest | Eagles | Kalispell, MT 4/21 – Mikey’s Gyros | Moscow, ID 4/22 – Substation | Seattle, WA 4/26 – High Water Mark | Portland, OR 4/27 – McCoy’s Tavern | Olympia, WA
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 14th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Nice when a plan comes together. Seattle three-piece Sorcia will head out on a West Coast run just one week after the release of their second full-length, Lost Season (review here), which is out July 21 through Desert Records. The route will head south down the Pacific Coast and loop back north inland, hitting Denver and Salt Lake City en route to a still to-be-announced date in Boise that will close. If you’re in Boise, you could be a hero. Yes, booking shows is largely thankless work and the second you become a ‘promoter’ you sign up for at least 75 different shades of bullshit to hit you all at once, but, you know, heroism.
No doubt you’ll note their appearance at Burque Rock City Fest in Albuquerque on Aug. 5. There they’ll share the bill with the likes of Weedeater, Matt Pike, Brant Bjork, Fatso Jetson, Belzebong and many others. Sure to be a highlight of the run, though that’s not taking away from the rest of the shows, which I’m sure will also be cool. This tour was first announced with the review/track premiere linked above, but the venue seems to have dropped out of that Boise show, so an update seemed reasonable. If you didn’t check out the single from Lost Season, “Miss Ann Thrope,” it’s on the Bandcamp player below, where you can also preorder the album.
In support of their new album ‘Lost Season’ Sorcia hit the road on a summer west coast tour with a stop at Burque Rock City Festival!
Supporting their highly anticipated new album Lost Season, Sorcia embark on their biggest your yet hitting 12 major cities of Western US. Lost Season is the bands their heaviest and most eclectic offering to date and they are ready to unleash it in a live setting.
As part of their tour, Sorcia will take the stage at Burque Rock City Festival. They will play along side some of the Titans of Stoner and Doom, Weedeater, Matt Pike, Dead Meadow, Brant Bjork Trio, Yawning Balch and so many more.
Lost Season will be available July 21st through Desert Records!
SORCIA – WESTERN US TOUR 2023 07.28 Seattle WA Substation 07.29 Portland OR Kenton Club 07.30 Eugene OR Old Nick’s Pub 07.31 Eureka CA Siren’s Song Tavern 08.01 Oakland CA Golden Bull 08.02 Los Angeles CA Knucklehead 08.03 San Diego CA Til Two Club 08.04 Tempe AZ Yucca Tap Room 08.05 Albuquerque NM Burque Rock City Fest 08.06 Denver CO The Crypt 08.07 Salt Lake City UT Aces High Saloon 08.08 Boise ID TBD
With lumber a-plenty rolling behind them, Seattle sludge rockers Sorcia offer five new tracks on their impending second album, Lost Season. Set to release July 21 through Desert Records, the 40-minute long-player unfurls itself with due patience in its slower moments, and remains atmospheric regardless of tempo without dwelling too long in any single space, which is an accomplishment when three of the five inclusions are over eight minutes long. And yeah, you’ve heard similar tales before in other contexts, but let’s just say that since the trio issued their self-titled debut (review here) in mid-March 2020, one hopes the arrival of the follow-up is significantly less tumultuous.
It is their second release through Desert Records behind the 2021 Death by Design EP (discussed here), which featured as a CD bonus track an acoustic take on “Dusty.” That song reappears on Lost Season in fully-plugged form as the penultimate cut, ahead of the nine-plus-minute “Entering the Eighth House,” which lurches in bluesy atmosludge fashion in a final nod to end the procession of barebones-feeling-but-not-actually-barebones tracks, as helmed by Tad Doyle (TAD, Hog Molly, Brothers of the Sonic Cloth), with whom the trio of guitarist/vocalist Neal De Atley, bassist/vocalist Jessica Brasch and drummer Bryson Marcey also worked on the self-titled. In part because of that continued collaboration and in part because of the songs themselves, the spirit of Lost Season is very much one of steady and incremental progress.
As De Atley‘s clean vocals seem to move more in the vein of Dax Riggs circa Acid Bath — offset by his own shouts and Brasch‘s backing and lead parts in the speedier “An Axe Named Otis” and elsewhere — on opener “Miss Ann Thrope,” the central verse and chorus riffs move in a build and release of tension, steady in delivery but not staid emotionally. Brasch does appear on “Miss Ann Thrope,” just past the halfway mark, but not much, and her arrival in the call and response in the galloping second half of “An Axe Named Otis” is a jolt. That second track and “Faded Dune,” which follows, are markedly faster than “Miss Ann Thrope” — the first half of “An Axe Named Otis” doesn’t have the same push as the already-noted second, but it’s not far off in the verse with De Atley‘s throaty shouts delivering lyrics — and buried under the dense tone of “Faded Dune” is a classic stoner rock janga-janga swing, which is maintained as De Atley and Brasch come together in the midsection on vocals, lending the feeling of a landmark for the record as a whole right around its halfway point.
“Faded Dune” ends by shifting into a mellow jam for its final minute, a noodly lead winding out over steady drums and clicked-off clean bass. With the presumption that that’s where the vinyl split is, Lost Season begins side B with the atmospheric unfurling of “Dusty,” the clean-sung verse reminiscent of Ealdor Bealu in parts but still well within the realm of Sorcia‘s own take, Brasch again providing accent lines and adding to the build. The volume kick is at 3:51, and for a brief moment the song is admirably Crowbar-esque, but they’re soon off into the solo section, through a dual-vocal rendition of the hook as a crescendo before ending quieter with Marcey‘s drums the last to go and second to arrive in “Entering the Eighth House” behind the amplifier hum that shortly riff-plods with Sleepy abandon — and, crucially, patience — through the closer’s own movement toward and through an apex, the final arrangement between De Atley and Brasch underscoring how crucial their shared lead-singer duties have been to the record all along.
Lost Season may be taking into account the fact that Sorcia could do precious little to support their first full-length at the time of its release, but it’s no loss itself. They have not reinvented their sound, but there is definite and audible growth in their craft — it’s what I meant by ‘incremental’ above; I’m saying I think they’ll continue to grow as they’ve shown themselves having done here — and the material benefits from what feels like a careful hand in some places and one willing to let some exploration happen in others. Compare the verse/chorus interplay on “Miss Ann Thrope” and the ending of “Dusty,” for example. Or the layering of lines in the emergent nod of the verse to “Entering the Eighth House” and the jam in “Faded Dune.” Part of what makes Lost Season work is that each piece flows into the next and comes to feel like a part of the whole movement, the trio seeming to dig deeper as they go.
And in conjunction with the obvious care put into laying out the vocals in terms of who’s where, doing what, and when, Lost Season shows Sorcia working toward a mature approach that suits them well, somewhat raw instrumentally but able to convey a sense of depth just the same. One would expect them to keep accruing confidence as a result of their efforts here, and that’s only going to make them stronger their next time out. Easy win for all parties involved, including the listener.
If you hadn’t already caught on to their stuff — and I know you had because you’re cool like that; I’m talking to someone else — you’ll find “Miss Ann Thrope” streaming on the player below as the first single from Lost Season. Once again, release date is July 21 through Desert Records. More info, including live dates (click the poster to enlarge, click again to shrink), follows the song on the player below.
Enjoy:
âMiss Ann Thrope is the personification of animosity towards humanity.â – Sorcia
Seattle stoner/doom trio SORCIA prepare to unleash their highly anticipated sophomore full-length âLOST SEASONâ, their heaviest and most eclectic offering to date.
After releasing their debut album just days before the world shut down in March of 2020, things looked bleak for musicians as they were forced to stare into the unknown. During this dark time, Sorcia persevered by pouring themselves into songwriting, accomplishing not only the completion of a challenging EP, but also this brand new full-length they would reflectively come to name âLost Seasonâ.
This album is a continuance of their dynamic and heavy sound, yet showcases a matured evolution in style with a new exploration of influences. Captured by Tad Doyle at Witch Ape Studio in Seattle, WA with original artwork by Mike Hawkins, Sorcia are pleased to be working with Desert Records to release âLost Seasonâ out into the world on July 21st, 2023.
Tracklisting: 1. Miss Ann Thrope 2. An Axe Named Otis 3. Faded Dune 4. Dusty 5. Entering the Eighth House
Credits: All music written and performed by Sorcia Recorded, mixed and mastered by Tad Doyle at Witch Ape Studio in Seattle, WA Original artwork by Mike Hawkins at Human For Now Studio Layout by Jessica Brasch Photography by Jessica and Jesse Brasch
