It’s something of a surprise to see formidable Dallas riff-rocking trio Wo Fat release their third full-length album via Nasoni Records. Their last album, 2009’s excellent Psychedelonaut, was issued via Texas imprint Brainticket, and not that the new record, Noche del Chupacabra, doesn’t deserve the wider distribution that a release through Nasoni will get it, it’s just an odd fit. Nasoni, more known for releasing ethereal Euro-prog and the space-flavored psychedelia of Vibravoid and Sula Bassana, rarely touches anything this outwardly heavy (though they did release an Alunah 10”, so it’s not entirely unprecedented), but then, Wo Fat do seem to be branching out stylistically from the genre-based straightforwardness of Psychedelonaut and their 2007 debut, The Gathering Dark. Plus, it leads one to all kinds of speculation about future tour potential – i.e., maybe Wo Fat wanted better European distribution since they’re planning to go there – but that’s completely unsubstantiated, so I couldn’t say one way or the other. Whatever the case, if more people get exposed to Wo Fat and the Dallas scene in general as a result, that’s not going to be a bad thing, since along with the likes of Lo-Pan (now on Small Stone) and Black Pyramid (MeteorCity), Wo Fat have the potential to be forerunners of the next American generation of heavy rock.

That’s what comes through most about Wo Fat on Noche del Chupacabra. Three albums in and this five-track collection has the energy and creative feeling-outness of a debut. In a good way. It isn’t that Wo Fat – guitarist/vocalist Kent Stump, bassist Tim Wilson and drummer Michael Walter – sound like they don’t know what they’re doing. Quite the opposite. They proved on several infectiously memorable songs from Psychedelonaut that they were more than capable songwriters with a strong grip on an intended (and achieved) aesthetic. With Noche del Chupacabra, they’re merely expanding that sound, refusing to get formulaic, challenging themselves. Comparing superficially Noche del Chupacabra with its predecessor, the newer release is some four tracks shorter and 45 minutes as opposed to nearly 72. Perhaps the trimming down was done to allow for the potential of a vinyl release, but there’s no getting around the difference. At the same time, the songs in general seem longer here. Opener “Bayou Juju” and “Descent into the Maelstrom,” which follows immediately, run 7:26 and 8:20, both times which were met and surpassed by the second album, but Wo Fat go beyond anything they’ve ever done with the epic 15-minute instrumental closing title track. The shortest cut on Noche del Chupacabra is third and centerpiece cut “Common Ground” at 6:41, and that might also be the most straightforward – Stump making the most of an excellent riff and the solo flourishes that truly do more to distinguish lead players from those who just follow the rhythm and are too rigidly within the song – but more importantly, when Wo Fat execute “Bayou Juju,” which on most records would be considered “extended,” it doesn’t feel long.

Read more »

Rather than go completely over the top with lysergic synth swirls and keyboard samples, Brooklyn trio Traveling Circle keep to a rudimentary, sub-retro psychedelia, holding back on the flourishes to concentrate more on tone and basic presentation. This plays largely in their favor on their Nasoni Records debut, Handmade House, which relies mostly on the guitar, bass and drums to carry across the band’s sound. There is cello on opener “Cylindrical Time” and “Cloak My Trove,” and electric piano/organ also on the latter and “Wooden Eyes,” but by and large, it’s the three members of Traveling Circle acting on their own for the album, giving it a live and somewhat sparse atmosphere, especially on a song like “Somethings,” where the slower pace adds a minimalist feel if only for all the space between the notes.

The vocals are going to be an immediate standout for anyone experiencing Handmade House. Both bassist Charlie Freeman and guitarist Dylan Maiden sing for Traveling Circle, and right from the start, there’s a high-pitched soulful approach established on “Cylindrical Time.” It’s not the only tactic Traveling Circle use to carry across vocals (it’s contrasted right away with “Somethings”), but it shows up on several songs and, at its best, it’s like hearing Curtis Mayfield front Jefferson Airplane. There is one section of the otherwise excellent “Streamlined” that sounds like Richard Stamos trying to hit the high F singing “Loving You” on South Park, but I’m not about to fault the band for trying something different. Brooklyn’s not short on psychedelic rock bands at this point, and honestly I’d rather hear Traveling Circle do something more their own and fall flat once or twice than have to review another CD of hipster reverb played through Orange cabinets bought with trust fund money. Maybe that’s just me.

Read more »

From the jazzy opening notes of “Spacewulf,” a three-part 12-minute epic the last two parts of which come before the first (which is third — kablooie went my brain), colon-ized Romanian instrumental trio The :Egocentrics make no bones about their love of jamming heavy psychedelia on their debut long player, the comma-less Love Fear Choices and Astronauts. The album’s already been picked up for release by Nasoni Records, bringers of all that is spacey and European, but guitarist Brenn, bassist Jess and drummer Hera (all on a first-name basis) did an issue on their own first, pushing the record’s four tracks the old fashioned way… on MySpace.

If you blinked, you probably missed it, but yes, I did say there are only four tracks on Love Fear Choices and Astronauts, which means The :Egocentrics are bound to be packing some heady expanse in the songs. Sure enough, not a one of them is under 10 minutes, and all four — “Spacewulf,” “20 12,” “Bright Dawn of the Soul” and “Mystic Initiation” — show the expansive influence that acts like Colour Haze (who have vocals, but are given to similar lengthy instrumental passages anyway), 35007 and Rotor have had on the next crop of European stoner rockers. The :Egocentrics and likeminded groups like The Machine from The Netherlands, who also focus more on jams than structure and warmth of atmosphere than tightness of execution, have an analog classic psych feel, but are actually pulling off a style almost entirely modern. Their jams are heavy and driving, but still somehow best experienced as a whole without parsing the component parts or analyzing the experience to death.

Read more »