Five years on from their debut EP, Dying on the Mountain  (discussed here), it still feels a little weird that Big Scenic Nowhere are an actual band, never mind sounding more established with their core lineup, more progressive and more distinct as an outfit from their other collaborations than they ever have. They might rightly be called a supergroup with drummer Bill Stinson (Yawning Man, Yawning Balch, etc.), guitarists Gary Arce (Yawning Man, Yawning Balch, Yawning Sons, Ten East, Dark Tooth Encounter, Zun, WaterWays, some new band he’s got going with Pia from Superlynx, on and on) and Bob Balch (Fu Manchu, Slower, Yawning Balch, Sun and Sail Club, ex-Minotaur, etc.) and vocalist/keyboardist Tony Reed (Mos Generator, Twelve Thirty Dreamtime, Constance Tomb, Stone Axe, etc.), though the term has fallen out of favor as these things inevitably will, but Big Scenic Nowhere‘s third full-length, The Waydown, is an accomplishment and realization of the band as themselves and shouldn’t be thought of otherwise.

While the project started as a lost Arce demo (discussed here) with completely different goals, and have always been open to guest appearances, Big Scenic Nowhere have featured plenty between 2020’s Vision Beyond Horizon (review here) and 2021’s The Long Morrow (review here) — at the start it wasn’t clear who was actually in the band, so that’s solidified as well — and The Waydown brings sit-ins from returning keyboardist/organist Per Wiberg (Spiritual Beggars, ex-Opeth, solo, etc.), guitarist Reeves Gabrels (David Bowie, The Cure), as well as former Hall & Oates keyboardist Eliot Lewis on the included Hall & Oates cover, “Sara Smile.”

Those other contributions from Wiberg and Gabrels and are spread throughout the seven-track/39-minute long-player, delivered as ever through Heavy Psych Sounds and meld with those of the band itself, but it’s Big Scenic Nowhere‘s own performances that are the highlights. I’m not even sure if it’s Reed or Balch on bass on a given track, but as much as it’s the two guitars at the forefront when considering the band, “Summer Teeth,” the slower but hypnotically hooky centerpiece “Bleed On,” and the mellow-rolling, seven-minute closer “100” — which bookends with the also-seven-minute “The Waydown” at the outset — are much bolstered by the low end, with Stinson‘s drums (or maybe Reed‘s, depending?) as the solid foundation beneath the explorations taking place.

Because while The Waydown is perhaps the most song-oriented Big Scenic Nowhere have yet been and it brings the core group into focus in no small part because of the unifying factor of Reed‘s vocals, it is still based on and carved out from jams, the band’s core process rooted in getting together for a time, banging out as much improvised or thought-of-a-part whathaveyou as they can, and sending the files home with Balch to be edited and carved into songs after the fact. It’s a heady way to do it, but it has allowed for a sense of progression in the band even as most of their material to-date has come from a single multi-day session. And on The Waydown, whether it’s the righteous creeper riff of the penultimate “BT-OH” or the declarative arrival of the first lines in “The Waydown” after the brief and comparatively minimal ambient intro, the carving, cutting, pasting and shaping results in a decisively and purposeful-seeming progressive feel.

“Sara Smile” is a departure, obviously, with Reed shifting into a gentler, soulful vocal on the cover taken from 1975’s Daryl Hall & John Oates and the band tackling an arrangement that’s something kin to a heavy/desert interpretation of AOR, but in the post-chorus-takeoff melancholy of “Summer Teeth,” the harder-landing fuzz in “Surf Western” in the midsection riffing and how it changes back to shimmer for the verse, and even the dreamy vibe brought to “100,” there’s an attention to detail in The Waydown that tells you the songs have been worked on and, considering the depth, loved, before arriving in their final forms as presented, and that thoughtfulness in composition — even if it comes after the moment the actual music was made — and consideration of atmosphere while building same isn’t to be discounted. That Reed and Balch are also studio engineers kind of makes the band possible as they are now, as Reed‘s home in Washington State and the rest of the band’s in Southern California is a distance crossed by craft, Balch getting parts set in a branched collaboration with Reed adding vocals and maybe keys or drums, and so on, which makes Big Scenic Nowhere multi-tiered as regards creativity when one considers Balch‘s other direct partnership in the band, with Arce on guitar.

And what about Gary Arce? Is the man whose guitar made the desert sing an afterthought on The Waydown? Hardly. As Reed steps forward in lead-singer fashion, Arce‘s signature tone is what lends the proceedings their lightness, making the atmospheres of “Bleed On” and “100” possible and speaking to the improvisatory roots of the songs themselves. I’m not sure “Surf Western” would exist as an aural concept let alone the actual track on the record if it weren’t for Gary Arce, and the subdued standalone strums after three minutes in — in the drawdown right before the big riff circles back with a wallop — Big Scenic Nowhere remind that a goodly portion of their emotional resonance comes from the string section, even if that too is changing with the highlight stretches of bass as noted.

Is The Waydown the best Big Scenic Nowhere record? Yes. It feels like it’s the most vivid manifestation of their project yet as distinct from other outfits — which is saying something considering Yawning Balch is literally Yawning Man… wait for it.. plus Balch — and the intention with which it sets itself to the work of craft has become a key aesthetic component in a way that is likewise the band’s own. More importantly, it’s also the most Big Scenic Nowhere record in its contemplations, its dynamic turns and changes in volume or mood, and the resulting definition of the personality for the entire outfit. Yeah, it might still feel a little weird that they’re a band at all — to wit, I’m not sure they’ve ever played live — but they most definitely are, and never quite so engrossing a band as right now.

Big Scenic Nowhere, The Waydown (2024)

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Heavy Psych Sounds website

Dark Tooth Encounter‘s Soft Monsters was released in 2008 through Lexicon Devil, and is one of any number of projects in the oeuvre of guitarist Gary Arce of Yawning Man, who around this period was also collaborating with UK prog instrumentalists Sons of Alpha Centauri as Yawning Sons for the first time, as well as getting Yawning Man together as a touring act — they’d release Nomadic Pursuits (review here) in 2010 and enter more of a traditional-band existence rather than the vague-desert-legend status they’d enjoyed prior — demoing with Big Scenic Nowhere, who are now a real band much different than that demo, jamming with Ten East for the first two LPs in 2006 and 2008, collaborating with Hotel Wrecking City Traders out of Australia, on and on. I think even the Zun demo happened right around then too.

Arce‘s not exactly hard up for projects these days either, between Yawning Man actively releasing and touring, Yawning Balch bringing a similar lineup plus Bob Balch of Fu Manchu for two LPs in 2023, and a new LP on the way next week from Big Scenic Nowhere, which also has Arce and Balch paired, and whose drummer, Bill Stinson, also plays on Dark Tooth Encounter‘s Soft Monsters and holds the jams together in both Yawning Man (until last year) and the two Yawning Balch albums.

And I could be wrong about this, but I don’t think Stinson was in Yawning Man circa 2008 (original drummer Alfredo Hernandez played on Nomadic Pursuits), but Yawning Man also weren’t as active as they would be a few years after the fact, so while I’m not sure exactly how Dark Tooth Encounter happened, it might just have been a step-aside for Arce to work with Stinson alongside Ten East, whose second album, The Robot’s Guide to Freedom, surfaced concurrent to Soft Monsters.

Is that weird? Well, a little, but listening to Dark Tooth Encounter, it makes a little more sense since the mission on Soft Mirrors — seven songs/39 minutes, as if “ready for LP reissue” could be an actual runtime — is also a bit of a sidestep from either Yawning Man or Ten East. Mario Lalli — Fatso Jetson, Yawning Man, lately Mario Lalli and the Rubber Snake Charmers and the Brant Bjork Trio — sits in on bass for centerpiece “Radio Bleed,” but handles guitar on side A’s “Weeping Pines” and the finale “Engine Drone,” both of which have a subtle touch of the West Coast speaking to the East as regards ideas of ‘Southern’ in rock, Lalli and Arce‘s guitars allowing different textures to take hold than in, say, even the melancholy layers of keys and guitar in the penultimate “Hyper Air,” which feels prescient of All Them Witches in its full-room spaciousness, or opener “Alloy Pop,” wherein Arce (on guitar and bass) and Stinson (on drums and more drums, but always with class and a willingness to rest in a part while the guitar fleshes out) set the course for what Soft Monsters will be.

Part of that, as with most of Arce‘s work, comes from post-rock and post-punk more than the psychedelic subset of heavy with which Yawning Man are often lumped. Dark Tooth Encounter offers this with a feel that’s more worked on and structured, while still instrumental — though, is that a yell in the fade of “Alloy Pop?” did someone turn on a table saw? — giving a sense of the jams likely to have spawned the material in the first place but at the same time building more on top of those jams and refining them to be ‘songs’ in a verse/chorus sense; Arce is no stranger to proliferating instrumental hooks, and Dark Tooth Encounter takes advantage of its opportunities to showcase that in “Honey Hive,” with Stinson‘s snare accenting the rhythm of the guitar or the psych-jazz of “Deep Sleep Flower,” with Arce on keyboard, bass and lap steel in addition to standard guitar, the necessary layering process of which has me wondering which was recorded first, the bass or guitar.

Either way, “Deep Sleep Flower” resonates with more tonal heft than much of Soft Monsters, and that seems to be by design. Compared to the spaces left between the slow strums of “Weeping Pines,” on which Scott Reeder (currently Sovereign Eagle; see also Kyuss, Fireball Ministry, The Obsessed, Goatsnake, and Across the River with Mario Lalli and Alfredo Hernández [also later of Kyuss], who were kind of a precursor to Yawning Man and desert rock more generally in the mid-1980s; the Across the River demo tape is the stuff of legend) takes up bass as Lalli moves to guitar.

Reeder also contributed to Ten East. Nobody’s a stranger here, and nobody sounds like one. That’s to the advantage of Soft Monsters generally, since as an instrumental offering it’s inherently going to benefit from the chemistry between the players involved; to be found in ample supply through “Radio Bleed” at the album’s center, spacey and weirdo proggy and so irrevocably desert hued in no small part because Arce and company have set those associations forward in the genre to start with. Maybe it’s a footnote or a one-off, but one might have said the same thing until just a few years ago about Big Scenic Nowhere, and that band came to be something completely different than when the name first showed up.

So maybe at some point there will be another Dark Tooth Encounter, but I’d expect if so, at least if it were to happen somewhere amid Arce‘s already-detailed list of current projects — which I’m just going to go out on a limb and say is incomplete — it would also take a different form than on Soft Monsters, since Arce, Lalli and Stinson spent most of the 2010s as Yawning Man. But one never knows — anything, ever — and neither Stinson nor Lalli are ‘in’ Yawning Man at the moment, so perhaps bringing Dark Tooth Encounter back in some form at some point would be a way to reignite that collaboration among the many others all these players past and present. You won’t hear me predict. You will hear me recommend this one for a Yawning Man or hypnotic-instrumental fan looking for a fix or a post-rocker looking for a bridge to something of heavier tonal presence. In other words, as always, I hope you enjoy.

Thank you for reading.

—

If you tuned in last Friday, you probably caught the bit at the end where I talked about my laptop getting busted. Kid fell off the side of the couch — she runs on furniture when she gets an idea; it’s not something we encourage, but it’s something we live with, because theoretically you want a kid to be excited about ideas and movement is part of how she processes things intellectually and emotionally — and landed on my computer while also dumping my full iced tea cup on the same computer. Somehow she didn’t get wet, I assume because all the tea actually went inside the laptop, as if by now-is-the-time-for-this-thing-to-die magic.

A week later, I have perspective enough to see it could’ve been much worse. The Pecan wasn’t hurt; that’s always a plus. The laptop was going on six years old; it had a cracked case, couldn’t run unplugged, keys got stuck, on and on. Crucially — this is the one that makes it okay — the repair guy I use (TelStar Computers, Denville, NJ; a local small business I’m glad to support) was able to save the data on the hard drive, so I have that ready to go. From there, the hardest part has been accepting that because I’m using our own money rather than glut from the life-affirming crowdfunding campaign that got me that now-ex-laptop after I was robbed in the UK in 2018, I have to settle for a smaller screen with less desktop real estate to organize records, and give up an internal optical drive along with other bells and whistles. Still, a new laptop will allegedly be here on Tuesday, and I can’t look that gift horse in the mouth. I am privileged to be able to get another computer at all — the emergency backup Chromebook I call ‘Little Red’ is fine to visit, but nowhere I want to live — and I thank The Patient Mrs. for her getting-my-ass-in-gear efforts and her price-comparison research. My new one will be a Lenovo, which somehow makes me feel like a businessman. Expect copious corporatespeak, all synergisms and disruptional action assets and whatnots.

But this was kind of a bumpy, by-the-seat-of-my-pants week and I guess I made it through. I have a bio project for a death metal band (frickin’ a) to bang out this afternoon, so I’m going to leave it there and go immerse myself for a little bit in pummeling, bludgeoning extremity, and that’ll be a lot of fun I have no doubt.

Monday, a Sundrifter premiere. Tuesday I think a full-album stream for The Black Flamingo, though I need to check that. Wednesday I’m doubled up with premieres for Goat Major and a full-album stream for Troy the Band. Thursday is a full-album stream for Kariti, and next Friday I want to review the Guhts record, though it might be Monday, Feb. 5, before I get there. Either way, that’s what’s in my notes for next week, plus news posts, other videos that come up and whatever else catches the eye.

I hope you have a great and safe weekend. We’re in Connecticut tomorrow and are having company (like a double-playdate/brunch? oof, adulthood) on Sunday, so it’ll be busy, but I’m around if anyone needs me for anything. Don’t forget to hydrate, watch your head, all that stuff.

FRM.

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Previously confirmed for Desertfest Oslo, Desertfest London and Desertfest Berlin, the Brant Bjork Trio have now tied those slots together as part of a European tour set for Spring. This tour is coupled by stints set for South America in March and Australia later in March and early April.

That will just about bring the three-piece of Brant Bjork, Mario Lalli and Ryan Güt to here, which is the start of May at Desertfest Oslo and the launch of this tour. You’ll note that the run — which is put together by Sound of Liberation — is billed as ‘Pt. 1.’ It makes sense to think that ‘Pt. 2’ might happen in July or August, when they’re already confirmed for Hoflärm and SonicBlast Fest, which will either precede or not a slot at Ripplefest Texas, I can’t even remember. Gonna say, “probably?”

Before anything else, though, they’ll be at Planet Desert Rock Weekend in Las Vegas the weekend of Jan. 25, which is next week. I was hoping to make the trip, but well, hope don’t pay flights and a room for a couple nights and I don’t have a job, so yeah.

Note shows here with Ruff Majik and Monkey3. Both are slated to have new records out this year, maybe even in the first half of the year. And for what it’s worth, Siena Root are there too and they had a record in 2023, and Brant Bjork Trio have new songs as well. These kinds of things can make a run like this all the more special.

Go go go:

Sound of Liberation proudly presents:
BRANT BJORK TRIO – EURO 2024 TOUR

10.05.24 (NO) Oslo, Desertfest
11.05.24 (NL) Nijmegen, Sonic Whip
12.05.24 (DE) Cologne, Club Volta * w/ monkey3
14.05.24 (DE) Hamburg, Bahnhof Pauli
15.05.24 (DE) Bielefeld, Forum
16.05.24 (BE) Sint-Niklaas, De Casino * w/ monkey3
17.05.24 (UK) London, Desertfest
18.05.24 (FR) Wasquehal, The Black Lab
19.05.24 (FR) Nantes, Le Ferrailleur
20.05.24 (FR) Paris, Backstage By The Mill
22.05.24 (DE) Aschaffenburg, Colos-Saal * w/ Siena Root
23.05.24 (CH) Aarau, Kiff * w/ Ruff Majik
24.05.24 (DE) Munich, Feierwerk * w/ Ruff Majik
25.05.24 (DE) Erfurt, VEB Kultur * w/ Ruff Majik
25.05.24 (DE) Berlin, Desertfest
28.05.24 (NL) Amsterdam, Melkweg

Tickets: https://linktr.ee/brantbjorktrio

The Brant Bjork Trio:
Brant Bjork – guitar/vocals
Mario Lalli – bass 
Ryan Güt – drums

https://www.facebook.com/BrantBjorkOfficial
https://www.instagram.com/brant_bjork
http://www.brantbjork.com

Brant Bjork Trio, “Let the Truth Be Known” live in North Hollywood, Sept. 8, 2023

Anybody notice Brant Bjork hitting the road pretty hard these last couple years? Since I guess later 2021/2022, if it hasn’t been solo, it’s been the trio Stöner, and of late he’s been keeping company with that band’s drummer Ryan Güt and longtime collaborator and bassist Mario Lalli, also of Fatso Jetson, Yawning Man, more recently the jammy The Rubber Snake Charmers, and like Bjork (Kyuss, Fu Manchu, etc.), is a founding principal of Californian desert rock. I was fortunate enough to see this band, the Brant Bjork Trio, at Desertfest New York (review here), and their chemistry, presence, groove all live up to reputation. Playing tunes from Bjork‘s solo catalog and even apparently composing new material perhaps with an eye toward an LP, they’ve obviously been hither and yon in the US already, and in 2024 they’ll look to expand on that in busy fashion.

After Planet Desert Rock Weekend in January — which I want to go to; anyone got a flight and hotel room I could borrow? — the three-piece head to South America in March for a run of shows in Chile, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. That’s not an insignificant amount of travel. Later the same month, they’ll one-up themselves by undertaking the journey to Australia for shows there with support from Full Tone Generator, with whom Bjork has both played and produced previously. That stint ends early in April, and is the newest announcement, hence the headline above. Still to come, however, are the full dates for the European tour that will go at least three full weeks as it’s already confirmed to take Brant Bjork Trio from Desertfest Oslo (May 10-11) through Desertfest London (May 17-19) to Desertfest Berlin (May 24-26).

I seriously doubt that will be the end of their year, either, especially if they might be eyeing a Fall LP release with so much touring before. Or maybe they’ll hit the studio this Winter and put out a record in Spring. Or maybe a fucking asteroid will smash into the planet and none of these shows will happen, for all I know, but the point here is that despite having absolutely nothing, zero, nulla, to prove to anyone, they’re out doing so anyway. If you be there to see them on stage — they seem to be making it easier by going everywhere — I can only recommend doing so as something you will not regret.

Dates follow, as per social media:

One of my favorite places to play !

Stoked to announce the Brant Bjork Trio is coming over to Australia, we will be playing with our buddy’s Full Tone Generator on all the dates !

Brant Bjork Trio featuring Ryan Güt & Mario Lalli.

Tix and info :
https://linktr.ee/brantbjorktrio

BRANT BJORK TRIO

US DATES
Dec 21st Venice West
Planet Desert Rock Weekend IV – January 25-26-27, 2024, Las Vegas

SOUTH AMERICAN TOUR
Concepcion Chile 3/6/2024
Santiago Chile 3/7/2024
São Paulo Brazil 3/8/2024
March 9th Uniclub Buenos Aries Argentina
MAR 10 SUN Montevideo, Uruguay Plaza Mateo

AUSTRALIAN TOUR
28/03 – Barwon Club Geelong (VIC) AUS
29/03 – Singing Bird Studio Frankston AUS
30/03 – Gasometer Hotel Melbourne (VIC) AUS
31/03 – Crown & Anchor Hotel Adelaide (SA) AUS
03/04 – The Basement Canberra (ACT) AUS
04/04 – Dicey Rileys Wollongong (NSW) AUS
05/04 – Marrickville Bowlo Sydney (NSW) AUS
06/04 – Mos Clubhouse Gold coast (QLD) AUS

EUROPE 2024
Desertfest Oslo: 10th – 11th May 2024
Desertfest – Berlin
Desertfest London

The Brant Bjork Trio:
Brant Bjork – guitar/vocals
Mario Lalli – bass 
Ryan Güt – drums

https://www.facebook.com/BrantBjorkOfficial
https://www.instagram.com/brant_bjork
http://www.brantbjork.com

Brant Bjork Trio, “Let the Truth Be Known” live in North Hollywood, Sept. 8, 2023

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

https://www.facebook.com/officialmondogenerator/
https://www.instagram.com/nick_o_1971/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5Ug0EkTXplXiip0C2OzVi7
https://www.mondogenerator.net/

heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com
www.heavypsychsounds.com
https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUNDS/
https://www.instagram.com/heavypsychsounds_records/

Nick Oliveri, How to play “Autopilot” from Playthisriff.com

As one inevitably might, you get a solid mix of styles across the 30 tracks included on Dali’s Llama‘s new anniversary compilation, Star Resistant – Thirty Songs for Thirty Years. True to the title’s dropped hint, it runs the gamut from the band’s 1993 debut, Pre Post Now and the swinging grunge-informed rock of Creative Space (1994) and Being (1995), while reaffirming their root in raw-recorded noise ahead of the digging into heavier rock and the influence of their native Californian desert for records like 2007’s Sweet Sludge and 2008’s Full on Dunes (review here), which was where I got on board.

That was plenty enough time to catch their 20th anniversary comp, Twenty Years Underground (review here), which came out on vinyl in late 2013. I don’t know if there are physical editions planned for Star Resistance, but from a band who’ve only ever worn their collective heart on their sleeve — founding members Zach Huskey and Erica Huskey making an essential core duo — clearly they continue to live by that ethic. They also continue to be wildly undervalued.

Accordingly, if you don’t know the band, think of this one as a no-charge opportunity to explore their work and get a sampling of their growth over the last three decades and a whole lot of material that, by rights, you should probably be paying for. You know I like getting away with something. Here’s what came down the PR wire:

DALI’S LLAMA – Star Resistant – Thirty Songs for Thirty Years

Some of these are kind of rare and some are more well known. This is going to be a Bandcamp download-only release and it will be free (or pay what you can) from December 2 – December 31 (for the last 30 days of the year). We hope you dig it!

There are no songs off of the “Legends of the Desert Vol. 3” split we just did with Fatso Jetson because those songs were released on Desert Records. However, that split and two of our other past albums “Dying In The Sun” and “Full On Dunes” are now available on limited edition cassette through Northern Haze in Canada.

Also, there are no songs on this release that were on our vinyl anthology released ten years ago, “Twenty Years Underground”.

Anyway, this release at 2 hours and 21 minutes is a lotta Llama!

Dali’s Llama
Star Resistant – Thirty Songs For Thirty Years
1. Pre Post Now (Pre Post Now)
2. Creative Space (Creative Space)
3. On It (Creative Space)
4. Sleeping (Creative Space)
5. Longevity (Being)
6. Aboriginal Man Contemplating the Universe Under the Night Sky (The Color of Apples)
7. Beauty Contest (Chordata)
8. Earth Mother Spin (Sweet Sludge)
9. Orca (Sweet Sludge)
10. Love Is Mammoth (Sweet Sludge)
11. Can’t Catch Me (Full On Dunes)
12. Cheap and Portable (Full On Dunes)
13. Floating (Full On Dunes)
14. Theocracy (Raw Is Real)
15. Syphilization (Raw Is Real)
16. Always (Raw Is Real)
17. Flustrated (Howl Do You Do?)
18. I’m The Trouble (Howl Do You Do?)
19. Howl Do You Do? (Howl Do You Do?)
20. Plaid Rainbow (Howl Do You Do?)
21. Nostalgia (Autumn Woods)
22. O.K. Freak Out (Autumn Woods)
23. Claustrophobic Blues (Dying In The Sun)
24. Hocus Pocus (Dying In The Sun)
25. V.O.E ‘73 (Dying In The Sun)
26. Dying In The Sun (Dying In The Sun)
27. Longtime Woman (The Blossom E.P.))
28. Weary (Mercury Sea)
29. Choking On The Same (Mercury Sea)
30. Merricat Blackwood (Dune Lung E.P.)

http://www.facebook.com/dalisllama
https://dalisllama.bandcamp.com/
http://www.dalisllamarecords.com/

Fatso Jetson & Dali’s Llama, Legends of the Desert Vol. 3 (2023)

With their core membership drawing from acts like Fu Manchu, Yawning Man and Mos Generator, atmospheric progressive desert rockers Big Scenic Nowhere will release their new album, the title of which was previously given as The WayDown and seems to have chilled out on that capital ‘d’ in the interim — it’s now The Waydown — on Feb. 2, 2024, through Heavy Psych Sounds. It is the third full-length to come from the jam-rooted mostly-Californian outfit, and still very much based around the collaboration between guitarists Gary Arce and Bob Balch as they have been since 2019’s Dying on the Mountain EP (discussed here), as heard in the seven-plus-minute title-track premiering below to coincide with the launch of preorders today.

Big Scenic Nowhere‘s sound, expansive since the outset, came into deeper focus on 2022’s The Long Morrow (review here), as their studio methodology of editing songs out of jams and tasking Tony Reed with patterning and layering vocals — a role at which he has excelled — as Bill Stinson‘s steady and not flashy movement assures the fluid melodies have suitable rhythmic complement. Distinct from its members’ main outfits, distinct even from Balch and Arce‘s work together in Yawning Balch — who also have a new album just out; it streamed here last week — Big Scenic Nowhere have set their own context in sound and approach.

For example one need look only at the change in “The Waydown,” when the riff turns more severe about halfway through, taking on a progression that would be metal in a lot of other situations. Big Scenic Nowhere have grown more adventurous in their process of construction — saying something, considering how they started — while at the same time relying less on guest appearances and more on their core lineup as they refine their sound. It’s not a hot take or anything, but I don’t mind telling you I’m looking forward to this album.

The PR wire has crucial data — the preorder links — as well as confirmation of the Feb. 2 release, a few words from Balch and background on the band.

Please enjoy:

Big Scenic Nowhere, “The Waydown” track premiere

THE WAYDOWN is the first single taken from BIG SCENIC NOWHERE upcoming new album called THE WAYDOWN too.

The release will see the light February 2nd via Heavy Psych Sounds.

ALBUM PRESALE:
https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/

USA PRESALE:
https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop-usa.htm

SAYS THE BAND:

These recordings go back to 2021.

BIG SCENIC NOWHERE played a show out in Joshua Tree and while we were all in the same place (Tony the singer lives like 20 hours away) we thought we should spend two days jamming in the studio. Our usual way of recording is jam out freely and then edit those jams down into songs afterwards. The song “The Way Down” was the last jam of that session. We were about to pack up and Tony Reed started playing the main riff. Sometimes that’s all it takes to get immersed into a 25 min jam. We are choosing this song as the first single because it goes to a lot of different places musically. Also, I feel that the album itself does that too so this song is a good representation of what’s in store for you. Enjoy !!!

TRACKLISTING:

1. The Waydown – 7:41
2. Summer Teeth – 4:58
3. Surf Western – 5:49
4. Bleed On – 4:24
5. Sara Smile – 4:26
6. BT-OH – 4:51
7. 100 – 7:38

BIOGRAPHY

Anyone familiar with the terms “Stoner Rock” or “Desert Rock” have surely heard the names FU MANCHU or YAWNING MAN. If you’re a die hard fan of the genre, or a causal observer, you know that both bands have been dishing out quality material since the beginning. While stylistically different, both bands occupy legendary status. FU MANCHU’s sun-drenched, stratospheric, fuzz worship sound and YAWNING MAN’s ethereal, ambient delay have never been crossbred until now. It’s certainty a good time to be alive if you’re a fan of either band. We bring you BIG SCENIC NOWHERE…

Like many of the best things in life, the root collaboration behind Big Scenic Nowhere between guitarists Gary Arce of Yawning Man and Bob Balch of Fu Manchu started with tacos. Specifically, Del Taco. Founded in 1964 in the Mojave Desert in California, the fast food chain has stores throughout the Golden State and the Southern US, but it remains a SoCal institution. Arce, just back from tour with Yawning Man and celebrating the comforts of home, posted on social media of his triumphant return to his local Del Taco. Balch responded with his usual order – a regular red burrito with extra cheese and sour cream – and a band was begun.

Of course, it’s never really so simple.

Bob and Gary have been acquainted since the ’90s, when Fu Manchu would practice in the garage of the house Gary lived in with other members of the desert scene. Gary remembers coming home from his construction job at the time, working outside in the desert summer, ready to kick back and crack a beer, only to be unable to watch television because Fu Manchu were so loud.

They’d bump into each other over the years periodically and Bob eventually brought Gary in to film a piece for his instructional guitar series, PlayThisRiff.com. After the above-mentioned Del Taco post, it was Gary – whose collaborative efforts have been myriad in outfits like WaterWays, Zun, Ten East, etc. – who finally called Bob to jam.

While the project would grow soon enough to encompass players like Tony Reed (Mos Generator), Mario Lalli (Fatso Jetson, Yawning Man), Per Wiberg (Spiritual Beggars, ex-Opeth), Bill Stinson (Yawning Man), Nick Oliveri (Mondo Generator, ex-Kyuss, etc.), Lisa Alley and Ian Graham (both of The Well), Alain Johannes (Them Crooked Vultures, Chris Cornell, Eleven) and Thomas V. Jäger (Monolord), Big Scenic Nowhere is founded on Balch and Arce tossing guitar riffs and leads back and forth, piecing together song parts one movement at a time. Jamming. Sharing music. Developing a chemistry to build something new based on their individual experiences. In this way, Big Scenic Nowhere is the heart of what collaboration should manifest. Something that grows stronger for the cohesion between those who make it happen.

Gary traveled to Bob’s place, Bob recorded the tracks and assembled what became more fluid progressions, and songs resulted, highlighting the differences of style between the two of them – Balch a fuzz-laden guitarist’s guitarist tuned to D standard, Arce a delay-drenched sonic explorer with a signature tone tuned to DAD’GAD – and the resulting cohesion from their efforts.

After Balch arranged the tunes they headed into the studio to get basic tracks. Over the course of a few months musicians started to send in their contributions to the record. Vocals from Tony Reed came first, then Lisa Alley and Ian Graham from The Well and lastly Alain Johannes. Tony Reed also provided some vintage synth sounds, along with Per Wiberg, and Alain added some extra guitar parts. The end result is an album that is so dense with talent that it’s frightening. It’s a result of seasoned artists that have grown to this point. While all of their styles are different, the collaboration created a beautiful and unique album. “Vision Beyond Horizon” will echo through the ages as a document of our time, a bible to all things stoner and desert and then some. It’s a very heady album and deserves full attention. So sit back, relax, and take a trip behind the sonic curtain. Let “Vision Beyond Horizon” be your guide for years to come.

After the debut album the band released the EP Lavender Blues in 2020 and the sophomore album The Long Morrow in 2022.

A new album will see the light in early 2024 !!

BIG SCENIC NOWHERE is:
Bob Balch (Guitar, Bass)
Gary Arce (Guitar)
Tony Reed (Vocals, Keys, Drums)
Bill Stinson (Drums)

https://www.facebook.com/bigscenicnowhere/
https://www.instagram.com/bigscenicnowhere/
https://bigscenicnowhere.bandcamp.com/releases
https://bigscenicnowherestore.bigcartel.com/

heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com
www.heavypsychsounds.com
https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUNDS/
https://www.instagram.com/heavypsychsounds_records/

Big Scenic Nowhere, The Long Morrow (2022)

The first The Brant Bjork Trio live dates were announced when the band’s existence was revealed this past Spring, the new-ish project branching off from guitarist/vocalist Brant Bjork and drummer Ryan Güt‘s run with Stöner — which, in turn, was branched off their work together in Bjork‘s touring solo band — with desert mainstay Mario Lalli, also of Fatso Jetson and Yawning Man, on bass. Lalli‘s bonus-extra jammy Mario Lalli and the Rubber Snake Charmers outfit toured alongside Stöner last year, and of course none of these guys are strangers to each other.

Lalli shines playing bass in a three-piece, as Yawning Man‘s legacy in desert rock can attest, and Bjork and Güt are an established commodity when it comes to heavy rolling mellow groove. You can see the trio in action from the recent Burque Rock City Fest in New Mexico. In addition to Desertfest New York next month, they’ll be at Ripplefest Texas, then meet up with Hippie Death Cult on the way to the Kyuss World reunion in Palm Desert, which I’d imagine will be a trip of a thing. This is how it starts. Kyusscon.

Dates follow here, as posted on socials:

Go Van Go !
So stoked to be out rocking around the states!!

Sat Aug 26, Cultivate Fest, Chicago Il
Thur Sept 7th – the Wayfarer, Costa Mesa Ca
Fri Sept 8th – Knitting Factory, North Hollywood Ca
Sat Sept 9th – Benders Bar, San Francisco Ca
Sun Sept 10th – Catalyst Bar , Atrium Santa Cruz Ca
Tue Sept 12th – El Corazon, Seattle Wa
Wed Sept 13th – Mississippi Studios, Portland or
Thu Sept 14th – the Big Dipper, Spokane Wa
Sat Sept 16th – Knockdown Center, Desertfest Ny, Queens Ny
Tue Sept 19th, Larimer Lounge, Denver Co
Fri Sept 22nd – Ripplefest Tx, Farout Lounge and Stage, Austin Tx
Sun Sept 24th – Three Links Deep Ellum, Dallas Tx
Tue Sept 26th – Sister Bar, Albuquerque Nm with Hippie Death Cult
Wed Sept 27th – Yucca Tap Room, Tempe Az with Hippie Death Cult
Thur Sept 28th – the Usual Place, Las Vegas Nv with Hippie Death Cult
Fri Sept 29th – the Hood Bar, Palm Desert Ca. Kyuss World Party
Sat Sept 30th – Casbah, San Diego Ca

The Brant Bjork Trio:
Brant Bjork – guitar/vocals
Mario Lalli – bass 
Ryan Güt – drums

https://www.facebook.com/BrantBjorkOfficial
https://www.instagram.com/brant_bjork
http://www.brantbjork.com

The Brant Bjork Trio, “Automatic Fantastic” live at Burque Rock City Fest, Aug. 4, 2023