Anytime you’re ready to get weird, Jason Simon is already there. To the best of my knowledge, Familiar Haunts is the Dead Meadow frontman’s first solo album since his 2010 eponymous debut came out on Tee Pee, and even as he jumps styles from psych-outlaw to fuzzy drift, it might be even harder to keep up with all the labels involved putting the new one out. I count four between Tekeli-Li, Cardinal Fuzz, Burger Records and Blind Blind Tiger, but there might be one or two more in there — I wouldn’t make a promise either way. Understandable to get a bunch of support behind it, both because of Simon‘s pedigree and the swagger of the 11-minute “Wheels Will Spin,” which seems to sum up the mindset of the whole release while also spacing out in a satisfyingly meandering jam.

Admittedly, I’m a little behind on the release, so you can stream the album in full on the player below and hear “Wheels Will Spin” and the rest of it for yourself before you dive into picking a label and/or format for your purchase. Info from the PR wire:

Familiar Haunts by Jason Simon

Jason Simon, best known for his work as the guitarist and singer for the seminal heavy psych band Dead Meadow, releases his new solo record Familiar Haunts on Cardinal Fuzz / Tekeli-Li Records. Cassettes available from Blind Blind Tiger and Burger records. For Familiar Haunts Jason takes his love of the haunting Appalachian banjo playing of Dock Boggs and old time Americano Folk music to create a heady mix where wheezing organs come up against Maestro like drum machines and delivers on the weirdness inherent in old folk/country and blues tunes.

All the various strains of Cosmic Psychedelia that run through the grooves here you can find as you dip into the opening cut “The People Dance, The People Sing” as a twanging droning raga like guitar eventually slides into wild tangles of heavy swirling clouds of psych bliss. Tracks drift from the heady to the etheral to churning and heavy deserty dirges as Jason Simon emerges from the eerie haze.

Tracklisting:
1. The People Dance, The People Sing 04:28
2. Without Reason or Right 03:54 video
3. Now I’m Telling You 03:44
4. Pretty Polly 03:24
5. Seven Sisters of Sleep 04:11
6. Hills of Mexico 06:05
7. Wheels Will Spin 10:59
8. I Found the Thread 03:36

Jason Simon : guitar and vox
Scott Seltzer : Bass
Jon Randono : organ, synth, electric balama
James Acton : percussion

https://www.facebook.com/DeadMeadowOfficial/
https://jasonsimon.bandcamp.com/releases
http://deadmeadowstore.bigcartel.com/product/jason-simon-familiar-haunts-lp
https://www.facebook.com/CardinalFuzz/
http://cardinalfuzz.bigcartel.com/
https://www.facebook.com/TekeliliRecords/
https://www.facebook.com/burgerrecords/
http://burgerrecords.11spot.com/
http://www.blindblindtiger.com/

Jason Simon, Familiar Haunts (2016)