Middle of November. It’s getting darker every day, colder. The mornings are cold, the leaves are starting to fall. None of this happens in The Freeks‘ native Los Angeles, of course, but for those of us living in the seasonal world, the heavy rockers’ third album, Shattered, should arrive just in time to remind that there’s life happening somewhere. It’s been three years since The Freeks issued their aptly-titled sophomore full-length, Full On (review here), and in that time their reputation as a vibrant live act has only grown. As the year winds down, it looks like The Freeks might provide a late-2016 highlight.

The release will be through respected Italian purveyor Heavy Psych Sounds, who announced signing the band thusly:

HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS Records&Booking is very excited to announce a new signin!!

Welcome in the roster to ***The Freeks***

(With members of ex-Fu Manchu and ex-Nebula)

The new album will be released in mid November in vinyl, cd and digital, artwork to be unveiled soon!

Everything has a beginning, whether it by accident or by design. A journey consists of trials and errors until finally reaching a full circle…ever evolving, revolving over and over again. Set in constant motion, the gathering of speed reaching ultimate vibrations until it’s all “SHATTERED!” This can also be said in regards to Los Angeles, CA based quintet “The FREEKS” as they return from yet another complete orbit with their third full length LP, “SHATTERED”. What started as an accident, brought on a thought, which then began a project that grew into a solidified unit of sonic purification! The FREEKS, led by Ruben Romano, has consistently moved upward since its conception in 2007 and have gracefully matured since their first Self-Titled LP release in 2008 on CARGO GERMANY RECORDS.

While the initial project collaborated with players from around world, in 2010, Romano gathered together a more local unit of musicians, all baked under the L.A. heat, to achieve a consistent flow of creation. This was followed by The FREEKS critically acclaimed 2013 Sophomore LP “FULL ON”, released on the band’s very own label “FREEK FLAG RECORDS”. Now in 2016,The FREEKS prepare to sling shot and extend the trajectory of their already existing orbital path by joining forces with “HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS RECORDS” to release this latest revolution! The FREEKS are fully ready to shake it until it’s all “SHATTERED”.

https://www.facebook.com/TheFreeks/
http://www.thefreeks.com/
www.heavypsychsounds.com

The Freeks, “Strange Mind” Live at the Viper Room, Dec. 2015

Next Thursday, May 26, Radio Moscow, The Freeks, Albatross Overdrive and Grand Old Evils hit The Federal Bar in Long Beach for a show put on by Knitting Factory Presents. Leave a comment on this post to be entered into a giveaway to win a pair of tickets to the show.

Now, if you know this site you know I’m broke as shit, so don’t even think travel is included. But if you’re in SoCal or you’re going to be, the lineup pretty much sells itself. Please make sure that if you enter you’ll be able to attend, and please make sure to put your email address in the comment form so I can contact you if you win. Your email will not be stored, or remembered, or sold, or any of that other shady shit that people do with email addresses these days. The only time you’ll hear from me is if you’re a winner.

So, as you’ve got nothing to lose and a night of kickass rock and roll to gain, I say have at it. Show poster, info, ticket links and so on follow here, and you can leave a comment at the bottom of the post.

Thanks to all who enter:

KNITTING FACTORY PRESENTS

Thursday May 26:
Radio Moscow, The Freeks, Albatross Overdrive, The Grand Old Evils

The Federal
102 Pine Ave
Long Beach, California 90802

Radio Moscow:

The power trio led by the Stratocaster genius Parker Griggs have found THE formula: Crunching, heavy Sabbath-style chords topped with fiery solos that earn the right to be called Hendrixian. RN plants their flag firmly in the territory where psychedelic rock and cranked-up blues meet. The sound is unabashedly retro (think Cream, Blue Cheer, Led Zep or Jimi Hendrix Experience)’ so it’s easy to see how it caught the ear of the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, who produced Radio Moscow’s 2007 self-titled debut.

With Brain Cycles, their second album, Radio Moscow proved they’re not a cheap time machine but a direct descendant from the golden age of rock ‘n’ roll. In 2011, Griggs continued his psychedelic trip with The Great Escape of Leslie Magnafuzz released by Alive Records. In June 2014, and still with Alive Records, the band released their most recent album Magical Dirt.

The Freeks:

Led by Ruben Romano (founding member of FuManchu and Nebula) and supported by Bob Lee on drums (Claw Hammer, Backbiter, Mike Watt), Tom Davies on bass (Nebula), Esteban Chavez on keys, and Jonathan Hall on guitar (Angry Samoans, Backbiter), the Freeks deliver raw, unrefined, screaming fuzzed psychedelic rock’n’roll music that is dream bent with tension and laced with Full On passion.

Albatross Overdrive:

Albatross Overdrive is a heavy rock band incorporating influences from Sabbath to James Brown. A definite bluesy undertone is present in the earthquake like songs with just a hint of funk. The diversity of melodies will keep the audience focused while the live show will demand respect.

Grand Old Evils:

The Grand Old Evils is Southern California’s newest oldest band, born to drink beer and melt your face with ear blasting dirty rock and massive sound!

http://lb.thefederalbar.com/calendar/?event_id=6570925
https://www.facebook.com/events/1050179788380679/
http://www.knittingfactory.com/

If nothing else, Full On is well named. The second full-length offering from Southern California five-piece The Freeks, it’s an album that has a few different working modes and moves with ease between them, but whatever the band — led by guitarist/vocalist Ruben Romano (ex-Nebula/Fu Manchu drums) — does during any given stretch of the album, rest assured, they’re going all out. That’s as true of the acoustic summertime The Freeks harness in “Splitting Atoms” as it is of the get-off-your-ass-and-rage Mondo Generator-style adults-only punk of “Bitchin'” and several of the other tracks. Romano shares vocal duties with guitarist Jonathan Hall (Backbiter) and bassist Tom Davies (also a Nebula alum), and the band is completed by Esteban Chavez on keys and drummer Hari Hassin (formerly of Roadsaw). They’re an act with a decent amount of experience who sound like they know what they’re doing when it comes to writing heavy rock and roll. Full On is for sure a West Coast album — one can hear desert-hue shades of grown-up Nebula-isms on songs like “The Secret Pathway” and “Fast and Black” — and even the rawest moments seem to be coming from that particularly Californian tradition of hardcore punk. But again, it’s a mature presentation. Not old, not tired, but conscious of the moves its making. One can get that sense even in the structure of the 10-track/34-minute Full On itself, and how songs are arranged not in clumps of rowdier and dreamier material, but in a way that keeps the listener moving from one atmosphere to another, all the while sandwiched between an intro and outro, titled “Before” and”After,” respectively, that underscore the purposefulness of what comes between them.

Tying the album together is a consistency of strong hooks and a tendency to, when they do delve into psychedelic territory, to do so in a manner that nods not at endless wandering jams, but at the roots of late-’60s pop. That’s maybe best exemplified by “Splitting Atoms,” but it shows up in side B’s “Vitamin D” as well, which is both the most singularly blissful inclusion on Full On and also the longest at 7:50. Contrasted by the rushing catchiness of “On a Whim” and “Weirdness” and “Bitchin’,” these peaceful moments can feel somewhat short-lived amid classic heavy rock raucousness, but it’s worth noting that the shifts seem effortless on the part of The Freeks and that the album, wherever it goes, does well in bringing its audience with it. The ambient intro and outro cuts, both just a little over a minute long, make for a decent bookend and provide transition into and out of the stylized chicanery that follows or precedes, but it’s in the opener-proper “Big Black Chunk” and the subsequent “Weirdness” that Romano and company really set the tone for what The Freeks have to offer sonically, the former delighting in an uptempo Alice Cooper cabaret during its verses only to give way to an immediate groover of a riff to serve as a chorus. Chavez‘ keys and a slew of spaced-out effects meet with garage boogie, and it seems for a while that “Big Black Chunk” is going to have it all until the next two pieces unfold and each give an entirely different feel for what becomes the scope of Full On. The two sides of the album — they’ve done vinyl and CD — don’t mirror each other exactly, but there are similar elements being used for both, whether it’s the sleeze-you-out groove of “Fast and Black” or the freakout that seems built up one layer at a time on “Vitamin D.”

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Click Here to Download

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With no slowdown in the music coming out as we move into the fall, it’s time for another audiObelisk podcast. Like last month, the idea here was to keep it super-simple, not go too long or get lost too much in including stuff just for the hell of it. Whether it’s a big band or someone you’ve never heard of in this tracklist, it’s all quality, and most of it is new. A couple of these albums haven’t even come out yet.

Things get pretty dark in the second of the two hours, but I figured what the hell? It starts off rockin’ with Sasquatch and The Freeks and so on, so it seemed there was room to doom out for a while, and once I threw in The Body, there was nothing to do but plummet even further. As it winds down, there’s some transition back to more rocking fare though with Earthless, so it’s not like it gets totally lost and drowns in the mire of dark tones and sonic abrasion. I know you were worried. I was too.

Like last time, it clocks in at just under two hours long. I hope you download and enjoy the tracks. Here’s the full rundown of what’s included:

First Hour:

Sasquatch, “The Message” from IV (2013)
Monster Magnet, “Mindless Ones” from Last Patrol (2013)
The Freeks, “The Secret Pathway” from Full On (2013)
Red Fang, “Blood Like Cream” from Whales and Leeches (2013)
Pyramido, “Tiden är Kommen” from Saga (2013)
Hollow Leg, “Ride to Ruin” from Abysmal (2013)
YOB, “Ether” from Catharsis (2013 Reissue)
Seremonia, “Suuri Valkeus” from Ihminen (2013)
Aqua Nebula Oscillator, “Human Toad” from Spiritus Mundi (2013)
Jesu, “Everyday” from Everyday I Get Closer to the Light from Which I Came (2013)
Ayahuasca Dark Trip, “To the Holy Mountain” from Mind Journey (2013 Reissue)

Second Hour:

All Them Witches, “Born under a Bad Sign” (2013)
The Body, “Prayers Unanswered” from Christs, Redeemers (2013)
Primitive Man, “Antietam” from Scorn (2013)
Windhand, “Cassock” from Soma (2013)
Atlantis, “Omen” from Omens (2013)
Earthless, “Violence of the Red Sea” from From the Ages (2013)

Total running time: 1:59:33

Hope you dig it. Thanks for listening.

Download audiObelisk Transmission 030

Palm Springs desert rockers Dali’s Llama, led by Zach and Erica Huskey , will celebrate their 20th anniversary as a band on Oct. 5. They’re throwing a killer party to mark the occasion, and before you ask, yes of course it’s in the desert. Forest music they are not, though their last album, 2012’s Autumn Woods (review here), leaned that way a bit in its atmosphere.

I’ve gone on before about how I consider Dali’s Llama‘s ethic of following their passion for two decades deeply, richly admirable and inspiring, so I’ll spare you that, but suffice it to say that even in a realm of the underground where people say they are on their own path all the time, Dali’s Llama actually are. And they have been for a long, long time. 20 years, or so I’m told. Kudos. One of these days I’ll get to interview Zach or Erica. Maybe for the next record, which never seems to be far off.

The cast of characters they’ve assembled to help them celebrate two decades at what they’ve awesomely decided to call “Dali’s Llama’s Wild Rumpus” reads like a desert wishlist for people you’d want to have show up to a party. Lineup, link and a cool Skillit poster follow:

Dali’s Llama’s Wild Rumpus

Celebrating 20 Years Underground
13 Bands (only $5)
at The Palms in Wonder Valley
All Ages • Bar with ID
Free Overnight Camping
Bands start at 2:00 pm!

We hope you’ll join us to celebrate our band’s 20th Anniversary with a gathering of friends, music & fun.

Dali’s Llama

Rubber Snake Charmers
(feat Mario Lalli & family + special guests)

The Freeks
(former members Nebula, Fu Manchu, Backbiter, The Angry Samoans)

Ultra Electric Mega Galactic
(former/current Monster Magnet, Sasquatch, Trash Titan)

Hornss
(members of Solarfeast & The Jack Saints)

Rise of the Willing
(high desert DOOM masters!)

Whiskey and Knives
(desert stoner/punk kings!)

Brave Black Sea
(former members Kyuss, QOTSA & Slo Burn)

Undead Cuervo
(L.A. stoner rock!)

Caveman Voicebox
(feat member of The Adolescents)

Hit It!
(like early Redd Kross)

and special acoustic performances by

Joe Dillon & Scott Brooks
(The Hot Beat Duo!)

Josh Heinz
(the Big Daddy of Blasting Echo)

After the show there will be a free informal test screening of the music documentary “Lo Sound Desert”.

https://www.facebook.com/events/143851785822433/

Dali’s Llama, Autumn Woods (2012)

I guess if you’re gonna take a long weekend, that’s the one to do it. Ed Mundell‘s The Ultra Electric Mega Galactic, The Freeks — featuring ex-members of Nebula — and desert newcomers Blaak Heat Shujaa are hitting the road on a five-date weekender circa April 20 that’ll find them on a pilgrimage around California. As if the last two posts about Desertfest and Roadburn weren’t enough to fill your April, check this out:

4/20 Weekend Tour (USA)
(The Ultra Electric Mega Galactic, The Freeks, Blaak Heat Shujaa)

Three major players of the California heavy psych underground will join forces on a five-day American Southwest tour on 4/20/2013 weekend.

The 4/20 Weekend Tour will feature the first shows from The Ultra Electric Mega Galactic, the latest endeavor of Ed Mundell (of Monster Magnet and Atomic Bitchwax fame), which also includes members of Sasquatch and Trash Titan. They will be joined by psych warriors, The Freeks (with Ruben Romano from Fu Manchu and Nebula on guitar, and Tom Davies from Nebula on bass), and by TeePee Record’s hottest new signees, Blaak Heat Shujaa, who deliver a loud, enticing blend of fuzz heaviness, surf rock and neo-psychedelia.

Dates:
04.17 The Slidebar – Fullerton, CA
04.18 Level 2 Bar & Lounge – Cathedral City, CA*
04.19 The Tin Can – San Diego, CA
04.20 Favorites – Las Vegas, NV
04.21 The Satellite – Los Angeles, CA**

* Pre-Coachella Festival Party, w/ Yawning Man & Hot Beat Pussy Fiend.
** Third edition of TeePee Records Night LA.