Posted in Whathaveyou on March 17th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Surprise, here’s a new King Buffalo live record. Well, here’s the link to preorder one, anyhow. Well, the link will be active on Friday. So what’s this? An excuse for me to put on “Balrog” again, I guess? And notification of the existence of a thing? Yeah, that sounds about right.
Not to be confused with 2020’s Live at Freak Valley (discussed here), the impending sequel, Live at Freak Valley Vol. 2 — and here’s hoping they make it a trilogy at some point — will launch vinyl preorders this week in the test-press edition (pictured below) and others available direct from the band. I was there for this set (review here), and I’m glad it’s being released. By no means is it the band’s first live album, but if King Buffalo want to normalize putting out a bunch of records from the tours they do and that helps sustain the band, then as far as I’m concerned the more the merrier.
For the first time available on vinyl, our full 2023 Live at Freak Valley performance. These tracks have been mixed and mastered for vinyl and feature a completely different set from the 2019 version. NO SONGS REPEATED!
FVV2 Test Presses – Available this Friday at 12pm EST. Limited to 25, hand numbered, and ship immediately! They include a poly bag, a signed “thank you” from the band, a hand numbered insert, and an exclusive alt art poster.
FVV2 Deluxe Edition – Limited to 500 units and pressed to 12″ Puke Green vinyl. The Deluxe Edition includes a Gatefold Double LP with a hand numbered insert and polybag.
FVV2 Standard Edition – Limited to 1500 units and pressed to 12″ Metallic Silver vinyl. The Standard Edition includes a Gatefold Double LP and comes shrink wrapped.
27.6 – Deventer, NL @ Open Air 28.6 – Wiesbaden, DE @ SOL Sonic Ride 29.6 – Larz, DE @ Fusion Festival 30.6 – Dresden, DE @ Beatpol 3.7 – Feldkich, AT @ Poolbar Festival 4.7 – Salzburg, AT @ Rockhouse 5.7 – Donje Primislje, HR @ Bearstone Festival 7.7 – Athens, GR @ Floyd 8.7 – Thessaloniki, GR @ Eightball Club 9.7 – Sofia, BG @ Mixtape5 11.7 – Erfurt, DE @ Stoned From the Underground 30.7 – Tubingen, DE @ Waldbuhne 31.7 – Zurich, CH @ Plaza 1.8 – Munchen, DE @ Free & Easy 2.8 – Segrate, IT @ Magnolia Stone 5.8 – Karlsruhe, DE @ P8 6.8 – Dortmund, DE @ Piano 8.8 – Kortrijk, BE @ Alcatraz Festival 9.8 – Moledo, PT @ Sonic Blast 11.8 – Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms 12.8 – Glasgow, UK @ Classic Grand 13.8 – Manchester, UK @ Gorilla 14.8 – Bristol, UK @ Thekla 15.8 – London, UK @ The Garage 16.8 – Wasquehal, FR @ The Black Lab 17.8 – Carhaix, FR @ Motocultor Festival
King Buffalo is: Sean McVay – Guitar, Vocals, & Synth Dan Reynolds – Bass & Synth Scott Donaldson – Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 11th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
To my limited knowledge, the first of the tour stops below to be announced was Bear Stone Festival in Croatia, and that was last November, just over four months ago. If another fest was earlier than that, fine. I think the point stands it was a while back. Not that I’ve been up at night wondering when King Buffalo would announce their summer plans — not that I… havent? — or anything, but I know this is a band with fans in no small part because I am one, so their doings are of interest either way, and my big question about the tour is if they’ll go supporting a new album.
If so, that announcement would probably also need to be pretty soon. King Buffalo aren’t slouches when it comes to getting word out ahead of a record, so unless they wanted to make a point of a surprise drop — which, on the off-chance that somebody from the band sees this, would be fun too and maybe save some time — one would expect a heads up well in advance, at least to the Bandcamp email list, which is where I got this tour announcement from.
You can see for yourself in the run, the lineup of festivals is like a festival lineup in itself the names are so killer. Of these, my plan is to see King Buffalo at Bear Stone Festival and I’ll consider myself lucky to do so. If you’ll see them here or there, no doubt you’ll share that sentiment:
**TOUR ANNOUNCE** More European dates are incoming but, here’s some to wet your whistle.
27.6 – Deventer, NL @ Open Air 28.6 – Wiesbaden, DE @ SOL Sonic Ride 29.6 – Larz, DE @ Fusion Festival 30.6 – Dresden, DE @ Beatpol 3.7 – Feldkich, AT @ Poolbar Festival 4.7 – Salzburg, AT @ Rockhouse 5.7 – Donje Primislje, HR @ Bearstone Festival 7.7 – Athens, GR @ Floyd 8.7 – Thessaloniki, GR @ Eightball Club 9.7 – Sofia, BG @ Mixtape5 11.7 – Erfurt, DE @ Stoned From the Underground 30.7 – Tubingen, DE @ Waldbuhne 31.7 – Zurich, CH @ Plaza 1.8 – Munchen, DE @ Free & Easy 2.8 – Segrate, IT @ Magnolia Stone 5.8 – Karlsruhe, DE @ P8 6.8 – Dortmund, DE @ Piano 8.8 – Kortrijk, BE @ Alcatraz Festival 9.8 – Moledo, PT @ Sonic Blast 11.8 – Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms 12.8 – Glasgow, UK @ Classic Grand 13.8 – Manchester, UK @ Gorilla 14.8 – Bristol, UK @ Thekla 15.8 – London, UK @ The Garage 16.8 – Wasquehal, FR @ The Black Lab 17.8 – Carhaix, FR @ Motocultor Festival
King Buffalo is: Sean McVay – Guitar, Vocals, & Synth Dan Reynolds – Bass & Synth Scott Donaldson – Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 20th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
This isn’t the first Rollin’ Coffin single, as I’ve seen some around saying, but it is my first time hearing the band, which is fronted by Tim Williams of Vision of Disorder. Being a New York-area dude of a certain age and a former WSOU rat besides, I’m well aware of Williams‘ and that band’s penchant for heavy rock. I still get songs from 2001’s From Bliss to Devastation randomly stuck in my head — maybe it’s “Southbound,” maybe “Living to Die,” maybe “On the Table” again — weekly, and I swear that’s not an exaggeration. Like before I saw this press release, it had been hours. Some records just haunt you. Bloodsimple was awesome too.
So yeah, duh, with word of Machine producing and a heavy rock stylistic lean, I was curious to hear “Sun and Rain,” and I’m glad I did. It’s still got some of that hardcore push in the drums early on, just an edge of throttle, but the tempo serves it well ultimately, and the hook is killer. Not without atmosphere, but grounded in structure and Williams carries it without being ‘solo-project’ indulgent. There’s outreach in it, if you’ve got a few. Rollin’ Coffin had an EP out a couple years back, and I’m not sure if there’s a full-length coming or what, but it’s a new song to dig and that’s generally welcome news.
From the PR wire:
Gritty, Grunge-Infused Heavy Rockers ROLLIN’ COFFIN Release New Single “Sun and Rain” via Static Era Records + Visualizer
Today, gritty, grunge-infused heavy rockers ROLLIN’ COFFIN, the latest musical venture from Vision of Disorder and Bloodsimple veteran Tim Williams, deliver their new single “Sun and Rain” via Static Era Records. The track is accompanied by a visualizer, available to view below.
“Sun and Rain” marks the reunion between producer Machine (Lamb of God, Clutch, Suicide Silence) and Tim Williams (Vision of Disorder, Bloodsimple), who last worked together on the landmark Bloodsimple album ‘Red Harvest’.
Commenting on “Sun and Rain”, Tim Williams states:
“Getting back into the studio with Machine was a long time coming. We have a relationship that goes back 25 years. He is one of my favorite producers to work with, especially when it comes to vocals. My ideas for ‘Sun and Rain’ pretty much set when we started tracking the song. The vocals had to really carry the song; they needed to carry the song to the next level. The ideas started flying all over the place; the further we got the harder we worked, and the song was just getting bigger and better. It was a very exciting day in the studio, to say the least.
“I’m always working on some sort of self-expression- mostly music, writing, and art. So I had the ruff demo to ‘Sun and Rain’ kicking around. I was away on vacation in a hot tub after a long ski day. The chorus just popped into my head, and I said to myself- this song has to be heard; it’s a killer song. When I got back to town, I immediately started brainstorming on production, scheduling, and flights. It came together very quickly and sure sign of a good idea.
“The track is inspired by the forces cast upon us in life. The push and pull, the strength and fear, good and bad. These threads of light take us on our journeys. The randomness of it all and how in a moment, it all can be taken away. ‘Who are you to take away my life.’“
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 11th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
No question King Buffalo are among the US’ foremost heavy psychedelic rock bands. I’ll entertain suggestions if you have any for others to top them, but mostly because I can’t think of any names off the top of my head. If you were lucky enough to see them out with Parks from All Them Witches supporting on their recent tour, kudos. I caught them in Brooklyn (review here) at the start of the tour with Sun Voyager on the bill. The band they’ve become is, frankly, astonishing.
I could go on at some length with plaudits for their chemistry, aural heft and dynamic — sorry, but talking specifically about Dan Reynolds‘ basswork requires more space than the internet can hold — but I’ll spare you in the name of their likely being more to come from them in terms of summer tour dates. Note that these shows are booked with Route One (run by Ben Ward of Orange Goblin), Desertscene London, who do Desertfest London, and the esteemed Sound of Liberation, whose 20th anniversary party King Buffalo will also play in June, and the band have also been confirmed for Croatia’s Bear Stone Festival — see you there — and the long-running Stoned From the Underground in Germany on the first two weekends in July. To me this says a significant summer tour announcement is incoming.
You know what I’d like to go with it? Word of an album. King Buffalo don’t owe anybody anything after the ‘Pandemic Trilogy,’ but they’re not ones to rest on laurels, and if the December single “Balrog” was a herald, I’m ready for what’s coming. Fingers crossed for sometime soon.
And King Buffalo supported by The Atomic Bitchwax rules. Great pairing. From socials:
We are stoked to welcome NY heavy psych sires King Buffalo back for a full UK tour this Summer! Joining them will be very special guests – stoner fuzz lords The Atomic Bitchwax 💥
11th August 2025 – Nottingham – Rescue Rooms 12th August 2025 – Glasgow – Classic Grand 13th August 2025 – Manchester – Gorilla 14th August 2025 – Bristol – Thekla 15th August 2025 – London – The Garage
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 23rd, 2025 by JJ Koczan
As they did around their appearance last year at Roadburn Festival (review here) in the Netherlands, the somewhat-reunited alldoomers Khanate have announced a couple — literally two — shows taking place on either side of their slot at Prepare the Ground in Toronto, which looks pretty sweet either way. It’s Chicago and New York for the other locales. One is the home city, the other the next-biggest metropolitan center that doesn’t require flying to the West Coast to play.
So, three shows, one fest. You could not accuse them of favoring one market over the other, I guess, but whatever wherever, the fact of the matter is that when you see Khanate, first of all they should have counselors on hand for after, and second, it’s a thing you might never see again. A band people will travel for, and rightly so.
Of course, Khanate are still ostensibly supporting their surprise 2013 return, To Be Cruel (review here), but really it’s probably safer to say they’ll be out heralding the endtimes through which we’re living, giving cathartic voice to the harshest and darkest aspects of our hateful selves. You know, being Khanate.
This came from the PR wire:
Khanate Announce First U.S. Tour Dates Since 2005
Khanate play their first North American shows in 20 years this spring, with a trio of rare live dates, including headlining performances in Chicago and New York, as well as a featured spot at the Prepare The Ground festival in Toronto.
Khanate tour dates:
May 30 Chicago, IL Thalia Hall (Jon Mueller opens) June 1 Toronto, ON Prepare The Ground June 3 New York, NY (Le) Poisson Rouge (Mick Barr opens)
Tickets are on-sale this Friday, Jan. 24, at 10 am CT/11 am ET via this link: https://bnds.us/lcb8ux.
Posted in Reviews on January 17th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
First night of the tour, and the first of two nights in NYC for King Buffalo, who pick up more or less where they left off show-wise in December. They played Asbury Park in my beloved Garden State last month and a scheduling conflict had me elsewhere, so I knew I didn’t want to miss them this time. Also in December, the trio of guitarist/vocalist/synthesist Sean McVay, bassist/keyboardist Dan Reynolds and drummer Scott Donaldson posted “Balrog,” a new standalone single, which I took as a sign they’re beginning to move forward from the three-album cycle that has defined their last few years — 2022’s Regenerator (review here) and 2021’s Acheron (review here) and The Burden of Restlessness (review here) — and in addition to wanting to hear a new song live, wanting to hear songs from what fans have dubbed the ‘Pandemic Trilogy’ was a big factor in the decision to drive to TV Eye, which is buried so deep in Ridgewood that it almost feels like gatekeeping.
It took me less time to get there than when last I made the journey, which was a relief. I was enticed to leave the house early by the prospect of a couple hours’ writing time in the car — it’s time I’d have spent in traffic otherwise and just been stressed out to get here later — and no regrets. I get pretty anxious for going to shows these days anyhow. Most of the time, my solution to that is to not, which, though invariably cheaper, is probably not the correct answer, even if this venue just happens to be so deep in Ridgewood you’d have an easier time getting to the city by train from Connecticut.
May a two-band-max bill forever be the law of the land on weeknights. This being the first night of the tour — with Sun Voyager opening, no less; it’s been since Grim Reefer Fest in 2023 — it was something of an occasion, and though if all goes according to my evil plans for summer festivals, this wouldn’t be the only time I’d see the band in 2025, well, I’d been looking forward to seeing them in New York since I missed them in Asbury Park last month, and a month is even longer than it took me to drive to the venue, which is so deep in Ridgewood that dicks like me from Jersey call it “upstate.”
I have a million of ’em. Hang tight.
Doors were at 7:00, which to me spoke of an 8PM start. But I know I’m not the only person who likes these bands, so I went in at doors instead of hanging back, was the first one other than the sound guy and the bands setting up in the room. Fine. I said hi to Sun Voyager and some of King Buffalo’s expanding and loyal following, Bill Kerls and Amanda Jayne Vee, and others whose names I didn’t know but who knew each other. Found a spot on the floor to write, read, wait. The curtain was drawn, so not much to look at anyway. Sun Voyager went on at eight.
But not really. I don’t know what the deal was, but shit happens and sometimes it happens half an hour after you think it’s going to. I was up front for the duration, hanging out with a swath of good people local and otherwise. The two who had the horse masks on at the Slomosa show in Jersey were there, once again showcasing good taste. When Sun Voyager went on, it was with some new material, an extended take on “God is Dead” drawing from their 2022 self-titled (review here) and 2018’s Seismic Vibes (review here), “Caves of Steel” from the self-titled and some new material that showed how they’ve grown with bassist Stefan Mersch and guitarist Christian Lopez (also of Heavy Temple) both contributing vocals.
The band were set up on stage in a line with Lopez at stage right, Mersch in the middle and Kyle Beach pounding and swinging away stage left, providing outbound propulsion. Careening through the divide between hard driving psych and space rock, their groove was both well known to the crowd, subdued but appreciative on a Thursday, and welcomed, and Lopez was a blast on stage. No surprise there, I suppose, if you’ve watched him play a set on a given night, but a needed reminder that when you’re tearing holes in the galaxy with your 13th solo, you’re probably also having a really good time. I was having a good time watching it, I know, and now I have new Sun Voyager to look forward to, which I didn’t when I left the house to drive to TV EYE, which is so deep in Ridgewood something something blah blah okay I admit it I got nothing. But it sneakily got to be too long since I saw Sun Voyager and I was glad to rectify that in such face-liquefying style.
People were stoked for King Buffalo. This is a band with fans. They have inspired loyalty. A community is building right now, as we speak.. That’s not an inconsiderable achievement. I mean, yeah, people show up to shows for bands all the time, but I was up front before the band went on, and it was a deep passion on display as folks were swapping stories of past gigs — apparently Asbury was the best ever; so it goes — as they waited. The curtain parted eventually and the band came out and went into “Hours” and “Mercury,” both from Regenerator, for a mellower start ahead of “Grifter” from The Burden of Restlessness and “Shadows” from Acheron. Set-wise, I showed up for the Pandemic Trilogy, and I got it, plus the new song “Balrog” heralding an album in who-kn0ws-what state of completion, “Goliath Part 2” and a jammy stretched out “Kerosene” from 2016’s Orion (review here), “Eye of the Beholder” from 2018’s Longing to Be the Mountain (review here).
“Centurion” from the same record led into the closing pair of “The Knocks” and “Firmament.” It would have been hard to find two songs to better summarize the emotional catharsis between The Burden of Restlessness and Regenerator than those. “The Knocks” is intense and dug in, sharp in its stops and I hit my head on the monitor headbanging which I hadn’t done since seeing Lo-Pan at Roadburn 2014. It is the hardest, arguably the darkest place emotionally on any of those three records. “Firmament,” on the other hand, is the release, and the two are complementary in their builds and rhythm.
And what to say about King Buffalo at this point except they’re among the best the US has to offer in heavy psych and among the best heavy psych has to offer, period. McVay is a somewhat reluctant frontman, but a frontman nonetheless. He can shred, he can sing, he can play guitar and keyboard at the same time if the song calls for it. I don’t know what time Donaldson was playing in for “Grifter,” but I know I can still hear those three-in-a-row snare pops in my head. And Reynolds? Shit. King Buffalo have a lot going for them as a band, but the character and fluidity Dan Reynolds brings to their songs on bass is second to none. I mean it. Anytime you want to lock yourself into the vibe? Key in on Reynolds. He’s over there taking “Shadows” for a walk, dropping the bottom out from the floor in “Centurion,” and giving “Balrog” a little bit of funk, which you didn’t even know it needed but hell yes it absolutely did.
You know, the thing of it is, you can kind of imagine King Buffalo in it for the long haul. I mean, it’s already going on 12 years since their demo (review here) came out, and they’re established headliners. Among the best of the bands to have emerged in the heavy ’10s. But they don’t feel like they’re done growing, and they’re dedicated to what they do, both on stage and in the studio. Am I still going to be going to King Buffalo shows in 15 years? You can kind of imagine it. I look forward to what their future brings, in both the short and long term. That’s been the case all along.
I got home from Queens like 12:15, which wasn’t bad. Thanks to Scott and King Buffalo for having me out, to TV Eye for existing and hosting shows, to you for reading and to everyone I was talking to at the venue for being kind and welcoming. King Buffalo’s fanbase, as you likely know if you’re part of it, is full of sweethearts. May it continue to flourish. If you’re headed to night two, enjoy. As you may be aware, the venue’s pretty deep in Ridgewood.
Posted in Reviews on December 9th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Welcome to the Quarterly Review. Oh, you were here last time? Me too. All door prizes will be mailed to winning parties upon completion of, uh, everything, I guess?
Anywhazzle, the good news is this week is gonna have 50 releases covered between now — the 10 below — and the final batch of 10 this Friday. I’m trying to sneak in a bunch of stuff ahead of year-end coverage, yes, but let the urgency of my doing so stand as testament to the quality of the music contained in this particular Quarterly Review. If I didn’t feel strongly about it, surely I’d find some other way to spend my time.
That said, let’s not waste time. You know the drill, I know the drill. Just don’t be surprised when some of the stuff you see here, today, tomorrow, and throughout the week, ends up in the Best of 2024 when the time comes. I have no idea what just yet, but for sure some of it.
We go.
Quarterly Review #1-10:
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Gnome, Vestiges of Verumex Visidrome
Some bands write songs for emotional catharsis. Some do it to make a political statement. Gnome‘s songs feel specifically — and expertly — crafted to engage an audience, and their third full-length, Vestiges of Verumex Visidrome, underscores the point. Hooks like “Old Soul” and “Duke of Disgrace” offer a self-effacing charm, where elsewhere the Antwerp trio burn through hot-shit riffing and impact-minded slam metal with a quirk that, if you’ve caught wind of the likes of Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol or Howling Giant in recent years, should fit nicely among them while finding its own sonic niche in being able to, say, throw a long sax solo on second cut “The Ogre” or veer into death growls for the title line of “Rotten Tongue” and others. They make ‘party riff metal’ sound much easier to manifest than it probably is, and the reason their reputation precedes them at this point goes right back to the songwriting. They hit hard, they get in, get out, it’s efficient when it wants to be but can still throw a curve with the stop and pivot in “Rotten Tongue,” running a line between punk and stoner, rock and metal, your face and the floor. It might actually be too enjoyable for some, but the funk they bring here is infectious. They make the riffs dance, and everything goes from there.
The lone studio track “Breathe” serves as the reasoning behind Hermano‘s first new release since 2007’s …Into the Exam Room (discussed here), and actually predates that still-latest long-player by some years. Does it matter? Yeah, sort of. As regards John Garcia‘s post-Kyuss career, Hermano both got fleshed out more than most (thinking bands like Unida and Slo Burn, even Vista Chino, that didn’t get to release three full-lengths in their time), and still seemed to fade out when there was so much potential ahead of them. If “Breathe” doesn’t argue in favor of this band giving it the proverbial “one more go,” perhaps the live version of “Brother Bjork” (maybe the same one featured on 2005’s Live at W2?) and a trio of cuts captured at Hellfest in 2016 should do the trick nicely. They’re on fire through “Senor Moreno’s Plan,” “Love” and “Manager’s Special,” with Garcia, Dandy Brown, David Angstrom, Chris Leathers and Mike Callahan treating Clisson to a reminder of why they’re the kind of band who might get to build an entire EP around a leftover studio track — because that studio track, and the band more broadly, righteously kick their own kind of ass. What would a new album be like?
Almost on a per-song basis, Stahv — the mostly-solo brainchild of multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Solomon Arye Rosenschein, here collaborating on production with John Getze of Ako-Lite Records — skewers and melds genres to create something new from their gooey remnants. On the opening title-track, maybe that’s a post-industrial Phil Collins set to dreamtime keyboard and backed by fuzzy drone. On “Lunar Haze,” it’s all goth ’80s keyboard handclaps until the chorus melody shines through the fog machine like The Beatles circa ’64. Yeah that’s right. And on “Bossa Supernova,” you bet your ass it’s bossa nova. “The Calling” reveals a rocker’s soul, where “Plainview” earlier on has a swing that might draw from The Birthday Party at its root (it also might not) but has its own sleek vibe just the same with a far-back, lo-fi buzz that somehow makes the melody sound better. “Aaskew” (sic) takes a hard-funkier stance musically but its outsider perspective in the lyrics is similar. The 1960s come back around in the later for “Circuit Crash” — it would have to be a song about the future — and “Leaving Light” seems to make fun of/celebrate (it can be both) that moment in the ’80s when everything became tropical. There’s worlds here waiting for ears adventurous enough to hear them.
I mean, look. The central question you really have to ask yourself is how mellow do you want to get? Do you think you can handle 12 minutes of “Transmigration?” Do you think you can be present in yourself through that cool-as-fuck, ultra-smooth psychedelic twist Space Shepherds pull off, barely three minutes into the the beginning of this seven-track, 71-minute pacifier to quiet the bad voices in your (definitely not my) brain. What’s up with that keyboard shuffle in “Celestial Rose” later on? I don’t know, but it rules. And when they blow it out in “Got Caught Dreaming?” Yeah, hell yeah, wake up! “Free Return” is a 15-minute drifter jam that gets funky in the back half (a phrase I’d like on a shirt) and you don’t wanna miss it! At the risk of spoiling it, I’ll tell you that the title-track, which closes, is absolutely the payoff it’s all asking for. If you’ve got the time to sit with it, and you can just sort of go where it’s going, Cycler is a trip begging to be taken.
It is all very big. All very grand, sweeping and poised musically, very modern and progressive and such — and immediately it has something if that’s what you’re looking for, which is super-doper, thanks — but if you dig into King Botfly‘s vocals, there’s a vulnerability there as well that adds an intimacy to all that sweep and plunges down the depths of the spacious mix’s low end. And I’m not knocking that part of it either. The Portsmouth, UK-based three-piece of guitarist/vocalist George Bell, bassist Luke Andrew and drummer Darren Draper, take on a monumental task in terms of largesse, and they hit hard when they want to, but there’s dynamic in it too, and both has an edge and doesn’t seem to go anywhere it does without a reason, which is a hard balance to strike. They sound like a band who will and maybe already have learned from this and will use that knowledge to move forward in an ongoing creative pursuit. So yes, progressive. Also tectonically heavy. And with heart. I think you got it. They’ll be at Desertfest London next May, and they sound ready for it.
Are Last Band a band? They sure sound like one. Founded by guitarists Pat Paul and Matt LeGrow (the latter also of Admiral Browning) upwards of 15 years ago, when they were less of an actual band, the Maryland-based outfit offer 13 songs of heavy alternative rock on The Sacrament in Accidents, with some classic metal roots shining through amid the harmonies of “Saffire Alice” and a denser thrust in “Season of Outrage,” a rush in the penultimate “Forty-Four to the Floor,” and so on, where the title-track is more of an open sway and “Lidocaine” is duly placid, and while the production is by no means expansive, the band convey their songs with intent. Most cuts are in the three-to-four-minute range, but “Blown Out” dips into psychedelic-gaze wash as the longest at 5:32 offset by comparatively grounded, far-off Queens of the Stone Age-style vocalizing in the last minute, which is an effective culmination. The material has range and feels worked on, and while The Sacrament in Accidents sounds raw, it hones a reach that feels true to a songwriting methodology evolved over time.
Debuting earlier this decade as a solo-project of Andrew Cox, Seattle’s Dream Circuit have built out to a four-piece for with Pennies for Your Life, which throughout its six-track/36-minute run sets a contemplative emotionalist landscape. Now completed by Anthony Timm, Cody Albers and Ian Etheridge, the band are able to move from atmospheric stretches of classically-inspired-but-modern-sounding verses into heavier tonality on a song like “Rosy” with fluidity that seems to save its sweep for when it counts. The title-track dares some shouts, giving some hint of a metallic underpinning, but that still rests well in context next to the sitar sounds of “Let Go,” which opens at 4:10 into its own organ-laced crush, emotionally satisfying. Imagine a post-heavy rock that’s still pretty heavy, and a dynamic that stretches across microgenres, and maybe that will give some starting idea. The last two tracks argue for efficiency in craft, but wherever Dream Circuit go on this sophomore release, they take their own route to get there.
“All is Light” is the first single from New Paltz bliss-drone meditationalist solo outfit Okkoto since 2022’s stellar and affirming Climb the Antlers and Reach the Stars (review here), and its seven minutes carry a similar scope to what one found on that album. To be clear, that’s a compliment. Interwoven threads of synth over methodical timekeeping drum sounds, wisps of airy guitar drawn together with other lead lines, keys or strings, create a flowing world around the vocals added by Michael Lutomski, also (formerly?) of heavy psych rockers It’s Not Night: It’s Space, the sole proprietor of the expanse. A lot of a given listener’s experience of Okkoto experience will depend on their own headspace, but if you have the time and attention — seven-plus minutes of active-but-not-too-active hearing recommended — but “All is Light” showcases the rare restorative aspects of Okkoto in a way that, if you can get to it, can make you believe, or at least escape for a little while.
Trappist Afterland, Evergreen: Walk to Paradise Garden
Underscored with a earth-rooted folkish fragility in the voice of Adam Geoffrey Cole (also guitar, cittern, tanpura, oud, synth, xylophone and something called a ‘dulcitar’), Melbourne’s Trappist Afterland are comfortably adventurous on this 10th full-length, Evergreen: Walk to Paradise Garden, which digs deeper into psych-drone on longest track “Cruciform/The Reincarnation of Kelly-Anne (Parts 1-3)” (7:55) while elsewhere digs into fare more Eastern-influenced-Western-traditional, largely based around guitar composition. With an assortment of collaborators coming and going, even this is enough for Cole and his seemingly itinerant company to create a sense of variety — the violin in centerpiece “Barefoot in Thistles” does a lot of work in that regard; ditto the squeezebox of opener “The Squall” — and while the arrangements don’t lack for flourish, the human expression is paramount, and the nine songs are serene unto the group vocal that caps in “You Are Evergreen,” which would seem to be placed to highlight its resonance, and reasonably so. As it’s Trappist Afterland‘s 10th album by their own count, it’s hardly a surprise they know what they’re about, but they do anyway.
For a band who went so far as to name themselves after a fuzz pedal, Spain’s Big Muff Brigade have more in common with traditional desert rock than the kind of tonal worship one might expect them to deliver. That landscape doesn’t account for their naming a song “Terre Haute,” seemingly after the town in Indiana — I’ve been there; not a desert — but fair enough for the shove of that track, which on Pi arrives just ahead of closer “Seasonal Affective Disorder,” which builds to a nonetheless-mellow payoff before its fadeout. Elsewhere, the seven-minute “Pierced by the Spear” drops Sleepy (and thus Sabbathian) references in the guitar ahead of creating a duly stonerly lumber before they even unfurl the first verse — a little more in keeping with the kind of riff celebration one might expect going in — but even there, the band maintain a thread of purposeful songcraft that can only continue to serve them as they move past this Argonauta-delivered debut and continued to grow. There is a notable sense of outreach here, though, and in writing to genre, Big Muff Brigade show both their love of what they do and a will to connect with likeminded audiences.
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 12th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
I spent some significant hours two years ago with Okkoto‘s second album, the deeply evocative and resonant Climb the Antlers and Reach the Stars (review here), so to have a new single “All is Light” represent a forward step on the part of the project is welcome. Comprised once again solely of Michael Lutomski, formerly (I guess?) of cosmic explorers It’s Not Night: It’s Space, the outfit’s latest offering is not the first Okkoto to feature vocals, but I do think they might be the first ones from Lutomski himself. The prior album brought in Laura McLaughlin for a guest vocal spot on its closing track, and I’m honestly not sure about 2019’s debut LP, Fear the Veil Not the Void, because I don’t know it that well, but suffice it to say that the general modus of the project to this point has been instrumental and this isn’t.
The question, then, is whether Lutomski is staking out new ground he wants Okkoto to cover on the full-length that he says is “hopefully soon,” though he also notes it isn’t actually new. It’s a maybe/maybe-not as to whether “All is Light” represents a new approach for Okkoto, but my sense is that the project isn’t so rigidly defined or subject to hard and fast rules from is creator. Rather, I think the hopefulness being discussed there is related to inspiration; Lutomski is hopeful perhaps to have the time and energy to let then music come to him, never mind chasing it down through the woods of New Paltz.
Whenever it comes, and if that’s years from now, fine, I’ll invariably have high hopes for it, but in the adventurousness of what “All is Light” is doing and the immersion that ensues over the song’s seven minutes, the new single comes through as more than proof of life on the part of the project.
Player’s at the bottom:
“had this lying around for awhile now.
it’s been some long years. hopefully album(s) soon. see how the winter treats me.”
All is light Through the night All is light All the time
Moon, Moon remember me Down where the meadows dream by the sea Stars in her hair and eyes all night long
Lost in your arms for a million years Lothlorien rivers drink all our tears Stars in her hair and eyes all night long
written, performed, recorded, and produced by Michael Lutomski
