Usually Desert Psychlist likes to publish reviews relevant to the month they were released in but as Solar Trip's self-titled debut landed in that grey area between Christmas and New Year's Day we made an exception in their case. Solar Trip are Łukasz (guitar); Rob (guitar); Mateusz (drums) and Loolek (bass), an instrumental combo from Sosnowiec, Poland whose groove is of the type that became hugely popular in the early 00's via bands like Sungrazer, My Brother the Wind, The Machine and Colour Haze, a groove. much like prog, reliant on high levels of instrumental dexterity but with a looser. more spacious, less rigid format that many, these days, refer to as "heavy psych" or "post-rock" but we prefer to call "damn good music".
"Trip" is an important word when describing music of this ilk as what bands, in this field, are essentially trying to recreate is the musical equivalent of dropping a tab of acid and going on a journey through your own mind, attempting to create a place where musical notes are not just perceived as sounds but also as colours, shapes and textures. It is fitting then that the first three tracks of Solar Trip's debut are essentially one piece split into three movements, "Trip I - Temptation", "Trip II - Madness" and "Trip III - A Dream of....", each movement its own unique entity but each flowing into the next with seamless ease with no sudden shifting through the gears or abrupt left turns, a place where transitions are gradual and subtlety is king. Where the "Trip" triumvirate saw Solar Trip jamming a lysergic groove similar in nature to those bands mentioned in the opening section of this review the albums last two jams, "Everything is Relative" and "Mourn", find the band bringing into play a little more spaciousness, ambience and experimentation, with the exquisite "Mourn" getting extra brownie points for allowing each individual member of the quartet the room and space to flex their muscles and put their own markers down on this splendid album.
GREAT ! Awesome Listen !! YES !!!
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