There are touches of heavy psychedelia here and there in the interplay of guitarists Piotr Wyroslaw “Wyro” Dobry and Bartek “Bando” Dobry, and pieces throughout offer flourish of varying ambiences, but in the end, I don’t think you call your band Weedpecker unless you’re existentially prepared to have someone call you stoner rock, so let’s go with that. Weedpecker play stoner rock. It’s an accurate if somewhat simplified take on what the Warsaw-based foursome proffer on their 2013 self-titled debut, self-released in a pro-pressed jewel case by the band and featuring six tracks set in a fascinating back and forth of instrumental and vocalized material. The album checks in at just under forty minutes, and whether they’re basking wholeheartedly in latter-day Electric Wizardry, as on the penultimate “Sativa Landscapes” or marching with marked complexity past the nine-minute mark on the sans-vocal “Don’t Trust Your Elephant,” the Dobrys, bassist Jeso Ansolo (ex-Antigama) and drummer Pan Falon manage to hone a distinct character in their sound that, despite the pot leaf iconography of the disc’s artwork, relies surprisingly little on its riffs to carry it.

Not to say the riffs aren’t an essential factor, just that they’re not the be-all-end-all of Weedpecker‘s songwriting process. “Don’t Trust Your Elephant” unfolds following opener “Berenjena Pipe” and “Mindbreath,” which show off a propensity for vocal harmonies from Wyro and Bando, and while I’m not sure if I could do such a thing I’d ever write a song in which I didn’t, ultimately, Weedpecker is a stronger album for their propensity not to rely solely on this either. It plays vocal songs and instrumentals off each other as follows: Two with vocals, two without, one with, one without. In this way, “Berenjena Pipe,” “Mindbreath,” “Don’t Trust Your Elephant,” “Kraken,” “Sativa Landscapes” and “Weedfields (Ft. Cheesy Dude)” wind up leading the listener through atmospheres alternately dense and sprawling, capping with dreamy effects echoes that build to crunching riffage only after what feels like a palpably exploratory outing. “Mindbreath” offers some winding lines that seem to nod at Elder while keeping a distinctly European flair, made all the more distinguished by the vocal harmonies, which though presented somewhat raw in the mix are nonetheless well done, seeming to build on what the opener set as the tone for the record.

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