Posted in Whathaveyou on February 15th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Texas’ Destroyer of Light are ending their run with their upcoming sixth album, Degradation Years, which they’re introducing with the lead single “Cruel World,” an immediate showcase of the progression that’s made them so underrated for more than the last decade. I could go on and on about that, but maybe it’s moot as they unveil what will (allegedly) be the last Destroyer of Light US tour and present the melancholy post-’90s Ozzy melody of “Cruel World” (yes, that’s a compliment) and its melancholy-but-accessible roll.
Guitarist/vocalist Steve Colca notes below in laying band to rest that he and the other members have started taking on different projects — Slumbering Sun‘s debut got some hype last year, Suspiriorum have a debut EP out, and Temple of Love just posted a new single at the end of January — so it’s not at all the last they’ll be heard from, and who knows where their respective paths may lead over the next few years or more. But no one who knows what they’re talking about is ever going to tell you Destroyer of Light didn’t put in their time, and right up to 2022’s Panic (review here), they never compromised on their progression and desire to explore ideas beyond doom’s borders, and they never put out the same record twice. I fully anticipate that will prove the case on Degradation Years as well, and “Cruel World” offers a strong case in that regard.
Good band. Even if they won’t be around anymore as Destroyer of Light, I’m glad they’ve got one more record coming and are getting to finish on their own terms. That is something not everyone gets to do but they have more than earned.
From the PR wire:
Destroyer of Light to Release New Album, ‘Degradation Years’, April 5
Austin Doomwave Band Ascends to New Heights; U.S. Headlining Tour Dates Announced
Hear New Track “Cruel World”
Destroyer of Light creates heavy, heaving doom metal with entrancing guitar harmonies and haunting, ethereal vocals rife with soul, and grit. The Austin-based band, which formed in 2012, will release its new LP, ‘Degradation Years’, on April 5. ‘Degradation Years’, Destroyer of Light’s sixth full-length LP, showcases the unit delivering massive, loud music that is also and beautiful, moving, crushing, and kinetic. The record was recorded at Austin’s Orb Recording Studios (Grimes, The 1975) and mastered by James Plotkin (Voivod, Botch, Thou).
‘Degradation Years’ is the follow-up to Destroyer of Light’s 2022 LP, ‘PANIC’. ‘Degradation Years’ is advanced by the new single, “Cruel World’, which DoL vocalist/guitarist Steve Colca describes as “a tribute to longtime Soundgarden singer, Chris Cornell,” and “an emotional song for me to write as I’m a huge Chris Cornell and Soundgarden fan. His death had an affect on me as his lyrics always spoke to my sadness and depression.” Stream Destroyer of Light’s “Cruel World” now at this location.
‘Degradation Years’ track listing:
1.) Cruel World 2.) Waiting for the End 3.) Perception of Time 4.) Failure 5.) Man with No Name 6.) Blind Faith 7.) Where I Cannot Follow
Pre-order ‘Degradation Years’ at this location:
‘Degradation Years’ is an evolution into newer territories for Destroyer of Light while retaining the band’s core elements,” Colca continues. “I grew up listening to a lot of 90s alternative music and those influences show up more in my songwriting here, and we just decided be care free with the direction. You’ll also hear a lot more vocal harmonies, catchy choruses, and some callouts to some of my favorite vocalists. The album cover was inspired by Placebo’s ‘Without You I’m Nothing’; I wanted to lay it out there for people to see and digest what they feel it represents. ‘Where am I?’ ‘What am I feeling?’ ‘What am I writing down?’ The back cover and the band photo are a nod to Soundgarden’s ‘Down on the Upside’. What I love about this is it looks like the band isn’t getting along, they are distant from each other. Almost like it’s hinting that this was the end.”
“Which leads to the next news that Destroyer of Light is going on indefinite hiatus,” he continues. “When we found out that Mike was moving to Atlanta, Penny, Keegan, and I decided to talk about our future. Both Keegan and I felt that our songwriting was heading into different directions and we’ve done all we could with Destroyer of Light. Plus, all three of us have other projects that we want to focus more attention on. I have Temple of Love, and they have Slumbering Sun. Also, I am in Tits Out!, Suspiriorum, and Penny is in The Flood. We have one final album to deliver to you, and we felt like this was the way for us to end it proper. So, we give you ‘Degradaton Years’, one final tour, and a local Austin show to close everything out. We appreciate all the support over the last 12 years, it means a lot.”
Destroyer of Light will kick off a U.S. tour in support of ‘Degradation Years’ on April 10 in El Paso, TX. The 17-city run will wrap on April 28. A full listing of DoL tour dates is as follows:
Destroyer of Light tour dates:
April 10 El Paso, TX @ Rosewood April 11 Tempe, AZ @ Yucca Tap Room April 12 Las Vegas, NV @ The Usual Place April 13 Oceanside, CA @ The Pourhouse April 14 Palmdale, CA @ Transplant Brewing April 15 San Francisco, CA @ Knockout April 17 Portland, OR – High Water Mark April 18 Seattle, WA @ Substation April 19 Boise, ID @ Realms April 20 Salt Lake City @ Aces High April 21 Denver, CO @ Black Buzzard April 23 Lawrence, KS @ Replay Lounge April 24 TBA April 25 Tulsa, OK @ Whittier Bar April 26 Somewhere, AR @ TBA April 27 Little Rock, AR @ White Water Tavern April 28 – Arlington, TX @ Growl
Alongside Steve Colca, Destroyer of Light features Keegan Kjeldsen (guitars), Mike Swarbrick (bass), and Kelly Turner (drums).
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 13th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
This makes at least 15 different kinds of sense, not the least after the High Desert Queen and Blue Heron split that Ripple put out. This just came down the PR wire. I’ve wracked my brain to find some deeper analysis, to have more thoughts later, but yes, of course it’ll work.
Euro tour dates impending, album news impending. Much to look forward to. No date yet on the album. “First half” below says May or June to me, which works timing-wise with the yet-TBA but sure to come European stint from Stoned from the Underground to Rock im Wald — Germany to Germany, which happens; they could likely fill two weeks in just the one country but more likely won’t — and of course frontman Ryan Garney books Ripplefest Texas as well, so they’ll be among the righteous hordes playing that. I aspire vehemently to attend. If you’ve got a spot with internet and a shower I can crash at, such knowledge would be appreciated, even if it’s a motel suggestion nearby in Austin.
Fresh news. I didn’t even have time to make the names and titles bold. The PR wire delivers with urgency:
HIGH DESERT QUEEN sign with Magnetic Eye Records
HIGH DESERT QUEEN have penned a multi-album deal with Magnetic Eye Records. The Texas desert rockers will release their second album via the label in 2024.
HIGH DESERT QUEEN comment: “We could hardly be more honored and humbled than to become a part of Magnetic Eye Records”, vocalist Ryan Garney writes on behalf of the band. “The label’s roster speaks for itself, and we did not hesitate when we were approached about signing. We love how eclectic their taste is and how many different styles are represented. Plus it doesn’t hurt that some of our favorite bands are already on the label. We feel that Magnetic Eye are the perfect fit to help us continue to grow our own style of Texas desert rock.”
Jadd Shickler extends his welcome: “It’s the holy grail of A&R to find an act whose ambition toward every aspect of being a band matches their stellar live performances”, the Magnetic Eye director comments. “High Desert Queen have only been around for a couple of years, but when I saw their rapid evolution and light-speed ascent by doing things that some groups never even bother to put their backs into, I came away with one certainty: this band will not be denied! High Desert Queen will play massive shows and burn the memory of their live energy into the minds of fans all over the world. Any label smart and lucky enough to strap in and take the ride with them is going to be part of something really special. I’m no dummy, so I made sure we were that label, and I can hardly wait for the scene to hear what a huge leap these guys made in the short time since their last record. To Morgan, Phil, Rusty, and Ryan: welcome to Magnetic Eye! We’ll do our best to keep up!”
HIGH DESERT QUEEN are much more than ‘another desert rock band’. Formed in Houston, Texas by singer Ryan Garney and guitarist Rusty Miller in 2019, the duo soon recruited drummer adding Phil Hook (MONTE LUNA) on drums and relocated to Austin in 2020.
With the addition of Rusty’s daughter Morgan on bass, the band hit the ground running. The lone star shone bright when these four got together as desert rock had already endured a long rather dry spell of stagnation and was parched for an injection of fresh sounds.
HIGH DESERT QUEEN had what it takes to kick the scene into gear again. Their vast musical influences ranging from grunge to funk, old school metal to doom and much more provide an ideal foundation for new ideas and a rejuvenating approach to the genre. Their thunderous, fuzz-drenched anthems are delivered with a healthy dose of groove and catchy melodies, and get a massive boost from an emotional intelligence in their music that’s hard to find. The newly-minted sound is linked to the rich heritage of their environs, inspiring the style tag ‘Texas desert rock.’
Hard work and their obviously burgeoning talent resulted in an fast record deal for HIGH DESERT QUEEN. thanks in part to the help of ZAKK SABBATH’s Rob Blasko. Their debut full-length “Secrets of the Black Moon” arrived in 2021 and was immediately heaped with praise in the US and Europe in 2021, which kicked the doors open to touring and invitations to prestigious festivals both domestic and abroad. In March 2022, the Texans embarked on their first tour in support of SASQUATCH on the US West Coast. Only two months later, HIGH DESERT QUEENhit the roads of Europe as a headliner in June 2022, with a return to Europe with FATSO JETSON in 2023. Underlining the fast rise of this live monster, the newcomers were booked for Desertfest London (UK) and Berlin (DE) and the Truckfighters’ Fuzz Festival (SE) among many others.
Answering the exponentially multiplying requests for new material from their steadily growing following, HIGH DESERT QUEEN flanked their live activities with the “Turned to Stone Ch. 8” split release with BLUE HERON, and contributed a track to “Best of Soundgarden Redux”, the latest installment of the bestselling Magnetic Eye Records Redux series.
With more touring already on the horizon, HIGH DESERT QUEEN will release their sophomore full-length album via the label during the first half of 2024.
HIGH DESERT QUEEN live: 11-13 JUL 2024 Erfurt (DE) Stoned from the Underground 26-27 JUL 2024 Neuensee (DE) Rock im Wald 19-22 SEP 2024 Austin, TX (US) RippleFest
Line-up: Ryan Garney – vocals Phil Hook – drums Morgan Miller – bass Rusty Miller – guitar
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 6th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Stone Machine Electric, for most of their decade-plus tenure, have been the duo of bassist/vocalist Dub and drummer Kitchens (also of Slow Draw). Dub and Kitchens, Kitchens and Dub. Of all the times I screw-up the names in a given band’s lineup — information posted surprisingly infrequently where one might find it — I can generally be sure that if it’s Stone Machine Electric, you got Dub and Kitchens getting up to some heavy psych weirdness. I don’t know about you, but I take comfort in that.
Nonetheless, after four full-lengths — the latest of them being 2020’s The Inexplicable Vibrations of Frequencies Within the Cosmic Netherworld (review here) — William “Dub” Irvin and Mark Kitchens have welcomed bassist Erick Paxecko to the band as the third in a power trio. Adding (more) low end is surely not going to make them any less heavy, and well, if he’s weird enough for Stone Machine Electric to let him be in the band, he’s probably weird enough for you. Will they start calling him “Pax?” So many questions to answer, but the band are letting it be known they’ll record in March, even if they’re not sure yet whether they’ll end up with a full album or not. I love that, by the way.
Kidding aside, this isn’t the first time Stone Machine Electric have brought in a tertiary party to handle bass, as they never shy from trying something new. Best of luck to them and to Paxecko, who one assumes will make his recorded debut on whatever results from the sessions next month, to be helmed by Wo Fat‘s Kent Stump in Stone Machine Electric‘s own version of tradition.
They sent the following down the PR wire:
STONE MACHINE ELECTRIC: Three-piece into the studio!
Texas-based duo Stone Machine Electric, best known for their weird approach in crafting a darkened and spacious vision of psychedelic jamming, are ready to announce they have added that pesky low-end to their lineup and are now a TRIO! I’m sure you weren’t expecting that, or maybe you were already aware due to your social media addiction. Anyway, we wanted to make it official.
Erick Paxecko has been jamming with the band since mid-2023 and has expanded upon the band’s already heavy sound. Erick started playing in Mexico in the early 2000s and toured throughout the northern region. In 2012, he moved to Seattle, WA and played in several bands, including the doom band Mycon. Erick enjoys experimenting with his tone by trying out different pedals and bass rigs to work on getting his sound blended into the mix.
And with that news, we thought it worth mentioning we’ll be hitting the studio this March with Erick at Crystal Clear Sound in Dallas, Texas, with our great friend Kent Stump at the controls. Hope to get a full album’s worth of material laid down and find a way to get it to everyone’s ears.
Stone Machine Electric are: William “Dub” Irvin – Guitar/Vocals Mark Kitchens – Drums/Vocals/Keyboard Erick Paxecko – Bass
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 9th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Up to right about now, my official position™ on Austin’s Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol has been ‘they’re probably a live band.’ All the videos of there’s that I’ve seen, all the photos on their socials, and so on, would seem to back this up, but Fall 2022’s Doom Wop (review here) had charm in its songwriting beyond the ‘this would be cool on stage’ impression it made — though it certainly also made one.
The forthcoming Big Dumb Riffs, which is out March 22 through the band’s own Permanent Teeth Records, hones that sense of craft to an even finer point, their low-end-celebrant ethic spreading across 11 heavy-in-momentum-and-tone tracks that are varied, consistent in quality, cheeky in its self-awareness, but with more intelligence behind it than the somewhat-ironic title or the accordingly willfully dopey nü-metal play in “Whip it Around” might imply, though when you’ve got a track like “1800EATSHIT” — so catchy it’s pop, heavy enough to turn off squares, and goofy enough to be the good time that the ultra-Claypool bounce of the subsequent “Papa Pop It” reinforces despite a somewhat grim lyric — the band kind of becomes undeniable.
As the PR wire notes, Primus is a big factor, and hey, I dig that a lot, and from Floor to Hum to Rob Crow‘s Goblin Cock in “Clowntown” and the fuck-yes nod of “Peanut Butter Snack Sticks,” the Austin trio sound like the real deal here, and fair enough for the work they’ve done to this point in their tenure. Some punk, some metal, mosh riffs, headbang riffs, nod riffs, slow riffs, fast riffs, up riffs, down riffs, one riff, two riffs, red riffs, blue riffs, a whole lot of tone and a twist ending; there’s a lot more to dig into than it might at first seem, and as I make my way through again, my second impression of Big Dumb Riffs is bolstered by the songs’ already-familiar feel, so yeah, they’re not making it a challenge to get on board.
Fair enough. First single is “Body Bag,” which should give you an idea, and if they’re new to you, Doom Wop will work to get you further introduced and it’s at the bottom of this post as well. A video or two and plenty more tour dates than even the West Coast run you see below don’t seem like unreasonable expectations to have here, so I’ll hope to have more to come before Big Dumb Riffs is out, but so far, it moves in a way that brings you with it really well. They’ve crisscrossed the US a few times at this point (and also founded their own festival, the Big Dumb Fest). My question is whether this will be the record that takes them to Europe, as that would seem a logical next step.
Until then, the PR wire has this:
“Our catalog has never been short on big dumb riffs, but the idea on this record was to really turn the screw,” says RBBP bassist Aaron Metzdorf. On Big Dumb Riffs, that screw is cranked incredibly tight.
“We just wanted ‘the part’: The opening of Pantera’s ‘Primal Concrete Sledge’, the breakdown in Primus’ ‘Pudding Time’ — the shit that makes you move and lose your mind. Just that part the whole time.”
Across 11 concise, taut songs — most clocking in around 2 minutes or less — Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol demonstrates their skillful ability to blend the merciless low end of Leo Lydon’s 8-string guitar, Aaron Metzdorf’s masterful chordwork on the bass, and Sean St.Germain’s driving drumming.
Hot on the heels of their breakout 5th studio release Doom Wop (2023), Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol returns with Big Dumb Riffs: A whole new variant of the fuzzed out, overdriven, melodic, groovy music they have been making since 2016. While Big Dumb Riffs is decidedly more aggressive and rhythmic, it still retains the overtly melodic feel of Doom Wop. But Leo Lydon’s vocals are considerably more angry and negative (song titles like “1-800-EAT-SHIT” and “Body Bag” should be a clue.)
“The whole writing process was, ‘what if we just played two notes the whole song’,” Metzdorf says. “‘What if we tuned down to almost unusable string tension?’, ‘what if we write a record that will make everyone say ‘wow that is dumb’? Leo and I really move around on stage a lot. Being a dingus is crucial to the groove. All these riffs were designed to allow us to act bigger and dumber on stage.”
Big Dumb Riffs will be available for streaming and download on March 22, 2024. LP to follow in late Spring.
RICKSHAW BILLIE’S BURGER PATROL LIVE 2024: 02/03 Austin, TX – Sagebrush 03/09 Houston, TX – Moontower Sudworks 03/22 Austin, TX – St Elmo Brew – album release show 03/23 Dallas, TX – Double Wide 03/27 Phoenix, AZ – Linger Longer 03/28 Los Angeles, CA – Resident 03/29 San Francisco, CA – Kilowatt 03/30 Sacramento, CA – Cafe Colonial 04/02 Seattle, WA – The Funhouse 04/03 Portland, OR – Mano Oculta 04/05 Salt Lake City, UT – Quarters DLC 04/06 Denver, CO – Hi-Dive
Posted in Reviews on November 27th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Don’t ask me if the ‘quarter’ in question is Fall or Winter, and I’m still planning another QR probably in early January or even December if I can sneak it, but I was able to sneak this week in while no one was looking at the calendar — mostly, that is, while I wasn’t filling said calendar with other stuff — and I decided to make it happen. I even used the ol’ Bing AI to make a header image for it. I was tired of all the no-color etchings. It’s been a decade of that at this point. I’ll try this for a bit and see how I feel about it. The kind of thing that matters pretty much only to me.
This might go to 70, but for right now it’s 50 releases Monday to Friday starting today, 10 per day. I know the drill. You know the drill. Let’s get it going.
Quarterly Review #1-10:
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Negative Reaction, Zero Minus Infinity
Holy fucking shit this rips. You want sludge? Call the masters. There are two generations of bands out there right now trying to tap into the kind of slow and ultra-heavy disaffection — not to mention the guitar tone — of Negative Reaction, and yet, no hype whatsoever. This record didn’t come to me from some high-level public relations concern. It came from Kenny Bones, who founded Negative Reaction over 30 years ago in Long Island (he and thus the band are based in West Virginia now) and whose perpetual themes between crushing depression and the odd bit of Star Wars-franchised space opera have rarely sounded more intentionally grueling. Across six songs and a mood-altering 46 minutes, Bones, bassist KJ and drummer Brian Alien bludgeon with rawness and volume-worship weight that, frankly, is the kind of thing riff-dudes on social media should be tripping over themselves to be first to sing its praises, the lurch in “Back From the Sands” feeling sincere in its unconscious rifference (that’s a reference you make with a riff) to Saint Vitus‘ “Born Too Late,” and maybe Negative Reaction were, or maybe they were born too early, or whatever, but it’s not like they’ve been a fit at any point in the last 30-plus years — cheeky horror riff chugging in “Space Hunter,” all-out fuckall-punker blast in “I’ll Have Another” before the 13-minute flute-laced (yes, Bones is on it) cosmic doom finish of “Welcome to Infinity,” etc., reaffirming square-peg status — because while there’s an awful lot of sludge out there, there’s only ever been one Negative Reaction. Bones‘ and company’s angry adventures, righteous and dense in sound, continue unabated.
Arizona brothers Wayne and Joey Rudell return with New Blood, the first Fuzz Evil full-length since High on You (review here) in 2018, and make up for lost time with 53 minutes of new material across 13 songs from the post-Queens of the Stone Age rock at the outset in “Suit Coffin” to the slow, almost Peter Gabriel-style progressivism of “Littlest Nemo,” the nighttime balladry of “Gullible’s Travel” or the disco groove of “Keep on Living.” Those three are tucked at the end, but Fuzz Evil telegraph new ideas and departures early in “My Own Blood” and even the speedier “Run Away,” with its hints of metal, pulls to the side from “Souveneers,” the hooky “G.U.M.O.C.O.,” a cut like “Heavy Glow” (premiered here) finding some middle ground between attitude-laced desert rock and the expansions thereupon of some New Blood‘s tracks. Shout to “We’ve Seen it All” as the hidden gem. All Fuzz Evil have ever wanted is to write songs and maybe make someone — perhaps even you — dance at a show. With the obvious sweat and soul put into New Blood, a little boogieing doesn’t seem like too much to ask.
A second full-length from Serbia’s Cardinal Point, Man or Island asks its central question — are you a man or an island — in the leadoff title-track. I’m not sure what being one or the other delineates, but masculinity would seem to be preferred judging by the Down-style riffing of “Stray Dog” or the heavy-like-1991 “Right ‘n’ Ready,” which feels like it was written for the stage, whether or not it actually was. “Sunrise” borders on hard country with its uber-dudeliness, but closer “This Chest” offers tighter-twisting, Lo-Pan-style riffing to cap. The tracks are pointedly straightforward, making no pretense about where the band is coming from or what they want to be doing as players. The grooves swing big and the choruses are delivered with force. You wouldn’t call it groundbreaking, but the Vranje-based four-piece aren’t trying to revolutionize heavy so much as to speak to various among those traditions that birthed it. They succeed in that here, and in making the results their own.
Voices far more expert than mine have given pinpointed analyses of Vlimmer‘s goth-as-emotive-vehicle, semi-electronic, sometimes-heavy post-punk, New Dark Wave, etc., stylistic reach as relates to the Berlin-based solo artist’s latest full-length, Zerschöpfung, but hearing The Cure in “Makks” and “Fatalideal” taken to a place of progressive extrapolation on “Platzwort” and to hear the Author & Punisher-informed slow industrial churn of the penultimate “Todesangst” become the backdrop for a dreamy vocal like Tears for Fears if they stayed up all night scribbling in their notebook because they had so much to say. Vlimmer (né Alexander Leonard Donat) has had a productive run since the first numbered EPs started showing up circa 2015, and Zerschöpfung feels like a summation of the style he’s established as his own, able to speak to various sides of underground and outsider musics without either losing itself in the emotionalism of the songs or sublimating identity to genre.
Dutch sludge metallers No Gods No Masters may seem monolithic at first on their second full-length, the self-released Torment, but the post-metallic dynamics in the atmospheric guitar on lead cut “Into Exile” puts the lie to the supposition. Not that there isn’t plenty of extreme crush to go around in “Into Exile” and the four songs that follow — second track “Towering Waves” and closer “End” on either side of the 10-minute mark, “Such Vim and Vigor” and “A God Among the Waste” shorter like “Into Exile” in a five-to-six-minute range — as the band move from crawling ambience to consuming, scream-topped ultra-doom, leave bruises with elbows thrown before the big slowdown in “Such Vim and Vigor” and tear ass regardless of tempo through the finale, and while they never quite let go of the extremity of their purpose, neither do they forget that their purpose is more than extremity. Torment sounds punishing superficially — certainly the title gives a hint that all is not sunshine and puppies — but a deeper listen is met by the richness of No Gods No Masters‘ approach.
Italian psych rockers Ananda Mida are joined by a host of guests throughout their third full-length, Reconciler, including a return appearance from German singer-songwriter Conny Ochs on the extended heavy psych blueser “Swamp Thing” (14:52) and the four-part finale “Doom and the Medicine Man (Pt. V-VIII)” (22:09), which draws a thread through the history of prog and acid rocks, kraut and space applying no less to the 12-minute “Lucifer’s Wind” as to the surf-riffing “Reconciling” after — the latter gets a reprise on platter two of the 83-minute 2LP — as Ananda Mida dig deep into the shining thrust in the early verses of “Never Surrender” that give over to thoughtful jamming in the song’s second half, finding proto-metallic resolve in “Following the Light” before reconciling “Reconciling (Reprise)” and unfurling “Doom and the Medicine Man” like the lost ’70s coke-rock epic it may well be in some other universe, complete with the acoustic postscript. It’s two records’ worth of ambitious, and it’s two records’ worth of record. This is exploratory on a stylistic level. Searching.
Lumbering out of El Paso, Texas (where folks know what salsa should taste like), with seven tracks across a 23-minute debut EP, Ojo Malo follow a Sabbathian course of harder-edged doom, thick in its groove through “Crow Man” after the “Intro” and speedier with an almost nu-metal crunch in “Charon the Ferryman.” There’s Clutch and C.O.C. influences in the riffing, but there are tougher elements too, a tension that wouldn’t have been out of place 28 years ago on a Prong record, and the swing in “Black Trip Lord” has an undercurrent of aggression that comes forward in its chugging second half. The penultimate “Grim Greefo Rising” offers more in terms of melody after its riffy buildup, and “Executioner” reveals the Judas Priest that’s been in the band’s collective heart all the while. Bookended with manipulated sounds from the recordings in “Intro” and “Outro,” Black Light Fever Tripping sounds exactly like it doesn’t have time for your bullshit so get your gear off stage now and don’t break down your cymbals up there or it’s fucking on.
Druid Fluids — aka Adelaide, Australia’s Jamie Andrew, plus a few friends on drums, piano, and so on — inhabits a few different personae out of psychedelic historalia throughout Then, Now, Again & Again, finding favorites in The Beatles in “Flutter By,” “Into Me I See” (both with sitar), and “Layers” while peopling other songs specifically with elements drawn from David Bowie and the solo work of Lennon and McCartney, all of which feels like fair game for the meticulously-arranged 11-song collection. “Sour’s Happy Fantasy” offers sci-fi fuzz grandeur, while “Timeline” is otherworldly in all but the central strum holding it to the ground — a singularly satisfying melody — and “Out of Phase” swaggers in like Andrew knows he was born in the wrong time. He might’ve been, but he seems to have past, present and future covered either way in this material, some of which was reportedly written when he was a teenager but which has no doubt grown more expansive in the intervening years.
The years between their 2017 self-titled three-songer EP and the forthcoming 11-track debut full-length, Saturn V, would seem to have found Philly heavy rockers Gibbous Moon refining their approach in terms of craft and process. “Blue Shelby” has a turn on guitar like Dire Straits as vocalist Noelle Felipe (also bass) drops references to Scarface in “Blue Shelby” and brings due classicism to Mauro Felipe‘s guitar on “Ayadda.” That song, as well as “Everything” and closer “Peacemaker,” tie the EP to the LP, but Noelle, Mauro and drummer Michael Mosley are unquestionably more confident in their delivery, whether it’s the bass in the open reaches of “Sine Wave” or the of-course-it’s-speed-rock “Follow that Car” and its punker counterpart “Armadillo.” Space rock is a factor in “Indivisible,” and “Inflamed” is almost rockabilly in its tense verse, but wherever Gibbous Moon go, their steps are as sure as the material itself is solid. I’m not sure when this is actually out, if it’s 2023 or 2024, but heads up on it.
Arranged shortest to longest between the ah-oo-oo-ah-ah hookiness of “Sucker’s Disease” (3:03), the nodder rollout of “Daughters of the Sun” (5:47) and the reach into psych-blues jamming in “Goddess Land” (7:03), Mother Magnetic‘s self-titled three-song EP is the first public offering from the Brisbane four-piece of vocalist Rox, guitarist James, bassist Tim and drummer Danny, and right into the later reaches of the last of those tracks, the band’s intentions feel strongly declarative in establishing their melodic reach, an Iommi-circa-’81 take on riffmaking, and a classic boozy swagger to the vocals to match. There was a time, 15-20 years ago, when demos like this ruled the land and were handed to you, burned onto archaic CD-Rs, in the vain hope you might play them in your car on the way home from the show. To not do so in this case would be inadvisable. There’s potential in the songwriting, yes, but also on a performance level, for growth as individuals and as a group, and considering where Mother Magnetic are starting in terms of chemistry, that’s all the more an exciting prospect.
Posted in Bootleg Theater on September 25th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Hurst, Texas-based ambient/psych experimentalist solo-outfit Slow Draw will release The Mystic Crib on Nov. 10. The project of multi-instrumentalist Mark Kitchens, also known for his work on drums in Stone Machine Electric, has issued a handful-plus of full-lengths and singles, etc., over the last six years, but the 11-song/56-minute collection stands out in sound and purpose, Kitchens honing a style that finds root between stonerjazz, mellow desert, acid funk, krautrock, quietpsych and ambient prog, and it’s never quite doing the same thing twice from song to song, even if it wants you to think it is.
Fair enough. As they invariably would be, Earth are a touchstone here, in “The Mystic Crib” (premiering below) and its album-closing companion-piece “Return From the Mystic Crib,” and in the shimmering cymbal splash of “I See Her,” but Slow Draw is too satisfying a project to stick to one kind of weird. “Daily Jacuzzi Weekly” puts some old funk in the keys and some dub in the drums and is still sad — call that a Grails influence, no less for its intangibility — a fitting precursor to the later loopmaking in “Soggy Chips.” “Funeral Kabob” digs with heart into a Brant Bjork-style groove, while “Legitimate Wizard” and “Embroidered Waistcoasts” mark out more psychedelic pathways, the sample-laced “Milk Carton Complex” adding urgency in its guitar turnarounds that one could liken to King Buffalo as well as Sonic Youth (a comparison drawn below). There are far fewer wrong answers when the sound is encompassing.
Whether that’s coming through in the drums and synth of centerpiece “Sons of the Culinary Arts” or the swirling guitar effects of the subsequent “Invisible Entities Stealing Thunder,” Kitchens sets up his pieces as finished works but does not completely depart the impulsiveness that would seem to have sparked their creation in the first place. That might be a guitar line, a keyboard line. But it’s there and it’s usually something, some foundational sound Kitchens chases down until it becomes a song. It’s the guitar on both “I See Her” and “Milk Carton Complex,” but in two different ways. The vague Sgt. Pepper reference happening in the organ or whatever that is on “Embroidered Waistcoats.” Slow Draw‘s experiments are not unconsidered, or un-built — very pointedly, these are songs with identities derived from their respective sounds — but they have that underlying aspect just the same.
One might argue that makes Slow Draw less predictable, and I’d agree with that, but that extends outside this standalone release. What Kitchens might do next with the project is anyone’s best guess, but with a stated goal that seems to have been based on atmosphere, The Mystic Crib delivers on that promise in a big way and makes even its shorter cuts feel immersive.
Please enjoy “The Mystic Crib” premiering below, followed by more word from Kitchens and the PR wire:
Slow Draw, “The Mystic Crib” video premiere
For the videos I make, they are usually based on a spur of the moment idea similar to how the music is created. The use of the masks only came up because the Mrs had ordered these for one of her art projects, but she didn’t like the masks once they arrived in the mail. So I decided to paint them all instead of sending them back. I was only going to make a few, but ended up spending a few weeks painting them all. There are about 16 total, but I don’t think all of them made it into the video. I wore a full black-out bodysuit under them to hide behind so that the masks stood out and people wouldn’t get distracted by my beady, squinty eyes or any glare off my head. I hope the “mystic” part comes through in the video, as that was the main purpose.
As for the album The Mystic Crib, I wouldn’t say I had a theme in mind as much as I just wanted the album to set a consistent vibe. That’s also the reason the song, The Mystic Crib, is split into bookend tracks on the album. I want listeners to feel like they enter into the album and it carries them through and then it lets them know the journey has come to an end. Hopefully it is the kind of journey they want to embark on again, or at least use it as background music to a chill evening or something like that. All the songs on this album use titles I’ve been collecting over the years. I have a list of “band names” or album titles that I keep on my phone. So, I just went through the list as I listened back to the recordings and named them with titles that just seemed to fit. Not like I need 50 different bands just because I came up with a cool name. There are a couple that are not from that list, one of them being Daily Jacuzzi Weekly. I saw that on the bottom of one of those letter board signs at a motel and thought it was funny because it made no sense.
Slow Draw departs from the noisy ambient improvised pieces and journeys into The Mystic Crib with a structured vibe described as a mishmash of Sonic Youth with the psychedelic side of The Beatles. There is a distinct tonal setting for this work. It provides an ambient groove meant to for one to lose themselves to, or just to simply have floating in the background to calm the mind as one goes about their day.
Tracklisting: 1. Into the Mystic Crib 2. Funeral Kabob 3. Daily Jacuzzi Weekly 4. I See Her 5. Legitimate Wizard 6. Sons of the Culinary Arts 7. Invisible Entities Stealing Thunder 8. Embroidered Waistcoats 9. Milk Carton Complex 10. Soggy Chips 11. Return From The Mystic Crib
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 25th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
This past weekend was Ripplefest Texas, and I gotta say, even having gone to a fest last friggin’ week, I was looking hard at that lineup and thinking to myself it’d be awfully nice to see a whole bunch of West Coast acts I don’t normally see. Maybe next year.
Wait, who’s thinking about next year when the festival is barely done? They are. Ripplefest Texas 2024 is bringing over Dozer and Mars Red Sky — oh I hope they tour together — and will have The Skull-offshoot Legions of Doom, Boston’s Gozu, The Heavy Eyes, High Desert Queen, Bone Church, Blue Heron, Demons My Friends and, as you might guess looking at the packed lineup that was assembled for this year’s event, many more to come.
Honestly, you had me at eitherDozer or Mars Red Sky, but the appeal here goes well beyond those, and in a US festival sphere reeling without a major summer event or two this year it’s gotten pretty used to having around, Ripplefest seems to be stepping in at least to give the heavy rock end of the underground somewhere to flourish. I’ll be interested to see in the next two or three years how it will continue to grow, but also just for next year. I’d imagine there’s a whole bunch of people who’ve already made their travel plans to get to Austin. Can’t say I really blame you.
More to come as we get closer to a year from now, obviously, but they’re throwing down. Pretty sure those earlybird tickets are gone:
DATES AND FIRST BANDS ANNOUNCED FOR NEXT YEAR!
DOZER LEGIONS OF DOOM MARS RED SKY GOZU THE HEAVY EYES HIGH DESERT QUEEN BONE CHURCH BLUE HERON DEMONS MY FRIENDS
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 5th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Damn, Temptress. That’s quite a tour you’ve got there. The Dallas three-piece released their See album earlier this year, and I’ll tell you what I see, I see a band making a statement. I’ve written about them a few times over the last couple years but apparently whiffed on the record — there’s a good reason I never claim to be anything but terrible at this — but can’t help but think of the band in a different way after encountering a list of dates like this. And more, not only is this a month-plus on the road for the band, but it would seem to have been independently booked as well. It’s just a different scale of work put in than one usually sees, especially since the pandemic. Much, much respect, for what that’s worth.
They’ve got a teaser up for the run, and I’ve put the Bandcamp stream of See down there as well, not even for you — you’ve already heard it, I know — but for myself as a reminder. I’m sorry, but when somebody believes enough in what they do to put together a tour like this to support it, that’s probably something I want to hear. Never too late, whatever the internet’s two-week album hype cycles say.
From the PR wire:
Dallas Heavy Doom Trio TEMPTRESS Announces Fall 2023 Tour!
TEMPTRESS is a crew thunderously tempting fate to boom their way beyond Big Texas at sonic speed. They got together in early 2019, released an EP five months later, and haven’t stalled their velocity for even a moment since.
In less than five years, TEMPTRESS has drawn a loyal fan base and press support for their music, as well as an outstanding list of live performances supporting both legendary acts and current rising stars of the heavy music world (regardless of the recent chaotic fluctuations in the world of touring).
They continue to climb from underground with their first full-length album, SEE, released through Metal Assault Records on March 3, 2023. The trio is eager to resume their travels across the USA roadways and announces a new round of live shows to sustain the momentum for SEE.
Bassist/vocalist Christian Wright dispatches with tour particulars:
“We are excited to take our project through the upper midwest, west coast, and SW this Fall, in support of our latest effort ‘See’, which was released in March via Metal Assault. We can’t wait to catch up with friends, family, and peers both new and old along our journey. We have solid local support for the whole run and are thankful for those who helped in any way through the booking process. Community is key.
Our dear friends Dustlord (Tulsa, OK) will be joining us for the first six dates, and Grail (Phoenix, AZ) will be with us on the three Arizona dates. We extend a very special thanks to them. We are doing “An evening with” in Marfa, TX, which will likely include some heavy psych improv as well as new material. This will be a first for us and a glorious way to re-enter our home state of Texas. We look forward to seeing you out on the road.”
Temptress – Fall Tour 2023: Oct. 04 – Joplin, MO @ Blackthorn # Oct. 05 – Des Moines, IA @ Hull Ave Tavern # Oct. 06 – Madison, WI @ The Wisco # Oct. 07 – Minneapolis, MN @ Studio B # Oct. 08 – Iowa City, IA @ Gabe’s # Oct. 09 – Kansas City, MO @ Minibar # Oct. 11 – Denver, CO @ The Crypt Oct. 12 – SLC, UT @ Aces High Saloon Oct. 13 – Boise, ID @ Neurolux Oct. 14 – Moscow, ID @ Mikeys Oct. 15 – Seattle, WA @ Funhouse Oct. 17 – Olympia, WA @ Cryptatropa Bar Oct. 18 – Portland, OR @ High Water Mark Oct. 19 – Medford, OR @ Johnny B’s Oct. 20 – Oakland, CA @ The Golden Bull Oct. 21 – San Francisco, CA @ Kilowatt Bar Oct. 22 – Sacramento, CA @ Old Ironsides Oct. 25 – Las Vegas, NV @ Dive Bar Oct. 26 – Palmdale, CA @ Transplants Brewing Oct. 27 – Los Angeles, CA @ Permanent Records Oct. 28 – San Diego, CA @ Til-Two Club Oct. 29 – Tempe, AZ @ Yucca Tap Room ** Oct. 30 – Tucson, AZ @ House Of Bards ** Oct. 30 – Bisbee, AZ @ The Quarry ** Nov. 01 – ABQ, NM @ (TBA) Nov. 02 – Taos, NM @ Mercury House Nov. 04 – Marfa, TX @ Planet Marfa Nov. 05 – San Angelo, TX @ The Deadhorse
# w/ Dustlord / ** w/ Grail
Temptress: Kelsey Wilson – Guitar, Vocals Andi Cuda – Drums, Vocals Christian Wright – Bass, Vocals
