TREVOR'S HEAD ~ SOMA HOLIDAY .... review

The UK's underground rock scene is currently a seething hot bed of musical activity with bands like Desert Storm, Sergeant Thunderhoof, Green Lung and Witch Tripper all releasing albums that are not only being lauded here, on this little island we Brits call home, but also internationally. Whether Surrey trio, Trevor's Head, Aaron Strachan (bass, vocals, percussion, gliss), Matt Ainsworth (drums, vocals, keys & synths, flute, percussion) and Roger Atkins (guitar, vocals, percussion), have quite reached that level of global recognition is debatable but if their latest release "Soma Holiday" (APF Records) is anything to go by then it won't be too long. 

A band citing among their influences the mid to late 70's punk of Black Flag, the grainy desert dabbling of Kyuss and the proto-sludge of the Melvins may fool someone reading this into thinking that Trevor's Head would have a very American sound but although there are American elements to be found within the bands sound there is also an undeniable and overriding quirky sense of Englishness to be found here too

First thing you will notice about "Soma Holiday" is how big it is, thirteen tracks big to be precise, fear not though as boredom thresholds will not be a reached here as the band never hang around in one genre, style or groove long enough for that to occur. "Lung" opens "Soma Holiday", a short intro piece with the sound of someone inhaling and exhaling being slowly replaced with a swathe of keyboard colouring and synthesised sound  that then slams into "Sleepstate" a raucous rip-roaring groove fest that hurtles along at 100 mph with vocals trading back and forth over a backdrop of insistent rhythm and growling fuzz broken only by a mid -section of swirling lysergic grooviness. "Did you ever go to war" screams the lyric to next track "Verbal Hygiene" a full on angsty punk fuelled workout that explodes out of the traps like Usain Bolt on steroids. "Billion Dollar Fart" follows a similar punkish path but this time with its tongue placed firmly in its cheek. "Ghost" finds the band putting aside their punkish leanings for a second or two and diving headlong into more restrained waters with Atkins teasing a myriad of colours from his fretboard over an absolutely delicious Strachan bass line superbly supported by Ainsworth's busy and solid drum work. What sets Trevor's Head apart from their contemporary's is their clever use of vocal interplay, not so much in harmonising (though they do this well too) but in utilising the different vocal tones available to them and playing those tones off against one another resulting in a delightful call and response type scenario, something that works extremely well here. "Harvest Ritual" finds Trevor's Head hitting a more traditional stoner/desert groove while "Clerical Error" has a more grunge/alternative dynamic. The band briefly visit hardcore territory with "Writers Block" before taking off into the hard rock/stoner/progressive mixture that is "I Can't Believe It's Not Better" where mid -song Ainsworth pulls a rabbit from his hat with a stunning flute contribution that is sudden, delightful and totally unexpected. "Departed" finds us sitting around the campfire while the band entertain us with a charming mixture of lead and harmonised vocals over a backdrop of acoustic guitar interplay and eastern tinted hand percussion while "Boomeranxiety" sounds not unlike something that missed the cut on The Rocky Horror Show's soundtrack, all quirky vocals and off- kilter rhythms. "Bomb" is up next and sails along on a more traditional heavy rock/stoner groove but this being Trevor's Head it is not long before you start noticing little deviations appearing here and there, this is a band who do not like to play by the rules. The band finish things up with "Welcome (The Unburdening)" an eclectic tome that toys with elements of complex prog, dense sludginess and heavy rock bluster before fading out on a wave of laid back ambience, do not hit hat play/pause/stop button just yet though as after a long period of silence a hidden track suddenly surfaces which Desert Psychlist will not review here as some surprises need to be just that .....surprising!

Quirkiness has not always been the property of Josh Homme and his Queens of the Stone Age and Desert Sessions projects, we Brits have always toyed with the off-kilter and left of centre in our musical history, The Who, Queen and even Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath would often throw in a few left turns to confuse and confound their fan bases, Trevor's Head continue that tradition with "Soma Holiday" an eclectic mix of styles and grooves that revels in it own diversities and eccentricities .

Check it out .....

© 2018 Frazer Jones

LET IT BREATHE ~ LET IT BREATHE ........ review

Let It Breathe a trio from North Mankato, Minnesota are no strangers to Desert Psychlist the band having came to our attention four years ago via their debut EP "River Wizard", a decent well paced debut that, had its production been a little more polished and thicker sounding, may well have squeezed its way on to some of that years best of lists. Four years later with a slew of gigs under their belts, a little more knowledge of how to refine their sound in a studio environment and the backing of a very good record label the band return with their first full length album "Let It Breathe" (STB Records).

The muddy-ish production that held back Let It Breathe's debut EP "River Wizard" has been well and truly addressed on "Let It Breathe" and it was something that needed to be done, especially for a band whose greatest asset is the clear, clean shoegaze-ish vocal melodies and harmonies they like to counterbalance their fuzz drenched riffs and distortion dipped grooves with. Here the production is big, crisp and clear accentuating those vocals and putting an extra element of oomph into those raucous refrains and punchy, pummelling rhythms. This is nevermore evident than on first track "Bucket of Bullheads" an infectious, swirling affair, built around a pulsating bass motif backed by incredibly impressive drumming and coated in crunching chordal guitar colouring and swirling lead work. Over this bone rattling display of pure groove and in fact the rest of the album are laid clean melodious vocals and it is these vocals that set Let It Breathe apart from others plying their trade within the stoner/doom scene. If your looking for whiskey ravaged throaty tones or cookie monster growls well I'm afraid your out of luck here because what this band bring to the table throughout their first album are honeyed harmonies, mellow melodies and perfected polyphony all set against a background of gnarly riffage and pounding percussion.

So if you want some thing a little less abrasive than the usual stoner, sludge and doom fare but you still hanker for something that's still got plenty of balls and fire then look no further you've just found it in "Let It Breathe"

Check it out ... 

© 2018 Frazer Jones

GREEN DESERT WATER ~ SOLAR PLEXUS ..... review

Detroit's Small Stone Records have had their problems in the past, especially when in 2014 a flood almost wiped out their offices and nearly destroyed their whole operation, but the label that has over the years introduced us to such underground luminaries as Sasquatch, Wo Fat, Roadsaw and Greenleaf are nothing if not resilient and slowly but surely the label has fought its way back and with their mantra of releasing quality over quantity are now clawing their way back to the top.
The latest band to be given the "Small Stone" treatment are a trio from Oviedo, Northern Spain with a penchant for old school hard rock/proto-metal grooves with a well defined stoner edge who go by the name Green Desert Water. The band, Juan Arias Garcia (bass), Kike Sanchis (guitar/vocals) and Miguel Alverez (drums/backing vocals), first came to Desert Psychlist's attention with their hard rocking and bluesy debut EP "Green Desert Water" which we described on their Bandcamp page as "Smooth and classy blues rock", the band return now with their latest offering "Solar Plexus" (Small Stone Records) and we have no intention of changing that opinion.

As connoisseurs of 70s classic/hard rock will already know the music of that period was birthed in the UK ,a place far removed from its blues based roots in the USA, with bands like Led Zeppelin, The Jeff beck Group and early Peter Green led Fleetwood Mac taking what was an overlooked musical medium, amplifying it to earsplitting proportions and effectively reselling it back to its original owners. However it wasn't long before American bands cottoned on and started to experiment with the blues themselves but as the USA contains a huge diversity of people and cultures it wasn't long before some of those cultures started seeping into the music they were creating and moulding a new sound entirely. Two of these cultures to ingrain itself into the music were from the country/folk music of the southern states  and the soulful R'n'B of the inner cities with bands like the Allman Brothers Band, Grand Funk Railroad, and Mountain, among others, incorporating these influences into their grooves some of which were glaringly obvious some of which were latent and underlying . It is from this pool that Green Desert Water draw their sound, filling their fuzz drenched bluesy grooves and proto-metal ramblings with an undercurrent of southern country strut  and soulful swagger that although doesn't smack you around the face with a cowhide glove are nevertheless still there. "Open Your Wings" kicks things off nicely, a barnstorming proto flavoured workout that struts and swaggers towards its climax on a wave of crunching riffage and pounding percussion, lightened only by Sanchis' soulfully executed clean, powerful vocals and swirling solos's . "Chaman" and "The Deepest Sea" follow and both are notable for their fuzz drenched circular refrains, pushed hard by Alverez busy solid percussion and Garcia's grizzled fuzz drenched bass, both songs taken to another level by Sanchis distinctive and  delightful vocals. Sanchis voice although bereft of any vestige of southern "twang" to match the southern edge of the grooves surrounding it is nonetheless a thing of wonder, his vocal may not have the soulful timbre and all out power of a Steve Marriott or a Glenn Hughes but he more than matches them for weary gravitas and undiluted passion. Those vocals are used to great effect on the albums next track "Souls of the Woodland" a brooding and atmospheric number with a loose blues core that is not only the perfect showcase for Sanchis' incredible voice but also highlights his prowess as a guitarist, his solo's and riffs taking on a life of their own as they swoop and soar above Alverez and Garcia's tight rhythmic undertones. "Mother Moon" is up next and begins with the band crunching through the gears on a wave of rasping riffage and rhythm then suddenly laying out for Sanchis voice and Alverez's  bass drum to carry the song, then just as suddenly exploding again. The song carrying on in this vein until segueing into a storming instrumental mid section that showcases each members individual skills before finishing the way it started in an explosion of gloriously grainy proto groove. Final song and title track "Solar Plexus" rounds things off nicely with an undulating slice of distortion dipped proto madness that dips and soars in equal measure while at the same time visiting a myriad of styles along the way, styles that include lysergic funkiness, southern bluesiness and good old fashioned hard rocking fuzziness.

It's a win, win situation for Desert Psychlist here, not only do we see Small Stone Records maintaining the levels of quality over quantity they are internationally renowned for but we also get an album from a band who's star is most definitely in the ascendancy. Green Desert Water and Small Stone Records, a match made in heaven.
Check 'em out .....


© 2018 Frazer Jones

US AS CARAVAN ~ BUILT ...... review

Those brave few who first began experimenting with hallucinogenic substances like LSD, psilocybin, mescaline and certain strains of wild mushrooms in the mid to late 60's may not have been aware at the time the effects their use would have on popular culture, especially when it came to music. With their minds expanded musicians started transposing their visual and auditory experiences into the sounds they were making, creating soundscapes with their music that had a certain freedom and an almost an almost transcendental quality. The reverberations from those early days of lysergic experimentation and musical exploration still abide to this day and nevermore so than in the music of today's underground rock scene where the word psychedelic may have been abbreviated to "psych" but is still as out there and experimental as the day it first came on to our radar.
One band embracing that spirit of musical adventure and bringing it up to date for a new generation are Chicago's Us As Caravan a three piece band who blend shoegaze(ish) texturing and  lysergic colourings with fuzz drenched riffage and thunderous rhythms, something that can be heard on their stunning new debut "Built".

As any vinyl/CD buying, or even digital buying, music fan will tell you, sometimes an albums artwork can tell you more about the music inside than a thousand words will and the startling yet simple water colour and crayon painting that adorns "Built" tells you to expect something a little different, a little off-kilter and fresh.
Things start off well straight from the off, a warm liquid bass motif, accompanied by gradually increasing fuzz and feedback, introduces first track "Wave Goodbye", the song then exploding  into a heavily tripped out and hazy blues groove. This however is not the sort of blues groove your gonna hear coming out of some back street blues club played by old men in well worn suits telling you how their baby done them wrong, no this is a heady, trippy blues groove driven by gnarly bass and pounding drums, coated in strong clean, slightly indie vocals then decorated with layers of dirty fuzz and crackling distortion, it is still the blues but with a twist. "Damn Sure" follows and this time the band propel us down more spacey hard rock corridors with guitarist/vocalist Alex dialling his six string settings to phased and his vocals to melodic indie. The song has a strong heavy psych vibe made stronger by drummer Luis' incessant and exemplary use of the more shimmering and crashing components of his kit and Jimmy's ever present booming, growling bass. Next up is "So Called Man" a song that sees the band running the psychedelic flag to the top of the pole and truly embracing their more lysergic leanings. Swirling and hazy with colourful fractured guitar chords vying for space with soaring solos and glistening harmonics it almost feels as though the two previous songs have been gradually leading up to this point and the band now feel ready to cut free and fly. And fly they do with next offering "Chew The Fat" a song that floats and punches in equal measure, its undulating groove visiting elements of  hard rock, spacey psych and hazy blues as it winds along it's merry but terminally stoned way. "Sunfalcon" closes "Built" with a hard driven, heavily fuzzed, phased and distorted psychedelic rocker coated in powerful hazy vocals that has a vibe that suggests the band got together and decided they wanted to go out in a blaze of glory, all guns blazing and hell for leather, something they more than achieve here.

Us As Caravan are a stunning band unafraid to go out on a limb occasionally, a band who deliver a sound that is structured yet has fluidity and freedom, a band who should be mentioned in the same sentences as similar psych/blues trailblazers All Them Witches and Youngblood Supercult, a band you should check out.....

© 2018 Frazer Jones

BURIED SLEEPER ~ OBSIDIAN ..... review

It has been six years since Scotland's Buried Sleeper released their debut album "Colosseum" and six years is a long, long period in musical terms, a lot of things can happen in a bands life in that time. As we all are slowly coming to realise these days mega stardom and untold riches are no longer something attainable and band members who need to feed their families and keep a roof over their heads also need to have a job outside of their musical endeavours. Whether this is the case in why there has been such a long gap between Buried Sleeper's albums Desert Psychlist doesn't know but it is most likely that work, family and life in general have all somehow played their part. No matter though the band are back now with a new album and a slightly more expansive sound with their latest offering "Obsidian"

"Obsidian" is an album that proves true that old adage that "if something is good then it's worth waiting for", it is also an album that shows Buried Sleeper have not been sitting idle all these years just twiddling their thumbs. There is a deeper more complex feel to the four grooves that make up "Obsidian", all those things that made their debut "Colosseum" such a great listen are all still in place but there is a maturity to their sound now, a maturity reflected in not only their songs but also in their execution and arrangement. The band, Tommy Wigman (bass), Bryce Sutherland (guitar/vocals), Harry Clapham (guitar) and Dominic Hardy (drums), create huge walls of dark atmospheric groove around which they weave clean, mellow and slightly monastic harmonies,  grooves that at times veer towards crushing and heavy but are reigned in by the bands clever use of dynamics and melody, a tsunami of riffs and rhythms that bubble and boil threatening to erupt tempered by moments of simmering tranquility  Each song on "Obsidian" should be listened to as a separate entity as each has its own signature and unmistakeable dark beauty but these songs also work if you ignore the gaps between tracks and listen as if listening to one complete movement, allowing the music and vocals to wash over you in wave upon wave of dark sonic majesty.

Let's hope its not another six years before Buried Sleeper grace us with their next offering but even if that is the case we will still have "Obsidian" to turn to in the interim and that on the evidence of these four songs that is not a bad thing at all.
Check it out ....

© 2018 Frazer Jones

SLOW GREEN THING ~ III ...... review

Dresden, Germany, the recipient of a ferocious bombing campaign by the allied forces during the Second World War, was rebuilt, reconstructed and is now a central hub for cultural and technological education with the Dresden University of Technology being one of the biggest seats of learning in the country. As seems the case with all university cities it is never long before a vibrant and enthusiastic music scene becomes established around them. Dresden is no different boasting up and coming bands like the retro sounding Wucan and the psychedelic Sir Robin and The Longbowman, the city also has a thriving heavy scene and up front and centre of that scene stand a four piece band going by he name of Slow Green Thing, a band who have already had two well received releases under their belts in 2014's "I" and 2016's "II" and have just released their third album, unsurprisingly entitled "III" (Fuzzmatazz Records)

With one foot in the hard/classic rock of the 70's/80's and the other in the swampy heaviness of today's stoner metal/doom scene Slow Green Thing, Sven (guitar/vocals), Andreas (guitar), Jorg (drums) and Martin (bass), are one of those bands once heard, never forgotten. The quartet have a distinctive groove that is very much their own, a signature sound that marries melody with crushing heaviness without over leaning in either direction, the band walking stridently and confidently a middle ground between both dynamics. On songs such as "When Habits Embrace" and "Recipe of Doom" it would be so easy for Slow Green Thing to fall in to the trap of being heavy just for heaviness sake but they avoid this by injecting into their songs a melodic air both vocally and in the structure of their musical arrangements, tempering and counterbalancing all the heaviness of their grooves with soaring psychedelic guitar solo's and clean, clear vocal melodies, allowing spaces where the music can take a breath before diving back down into doomic depths.

Slow Green Thing's "III" is an album that fluctuates between crushing and caressing in an instant, brimming over with grooves that are a mix of volatile seething riffage, mellow psychedelic meanderings and old school hard rocking bluster, all delivered with a level of musicianship that at times takes your breath away.
Check it out ....

© 2018 Frazer Jones

WITCH TRIPPER ~ I, OF THE STORM ...... review

Mansfield, England 2014 and bass player Chris "Stoff" Daughton and guitarist Richie Barlow bump into each other while out and about and get talking, the pair hit it off and decide, due to their similar musical leanings, to form a band. "Stoff " and Barlow start then to look for a drummer and finally settle on young skin beater Jimmy Collins and so Witch Tripper are born. The band soon begin a period of intense gigging which culminates in an appearance at the prestigious Bloodstock Festival thanks to them coming second in a battle of the bands type competition in their area. In this time the band also find the time to unleash their hard rocking debut album "Witch Tripper" on an unsuspecting but very grateful public. Two years later, with a slew of gigs under their belts and a growing reputation the band return to the studio, the result of which is this their second album "I, Of The Storm"

Witch Tripper, with their debut album, hit a groove that melded elements of hard rock, classic rock and metal with touches of bluesy swagger  and played it with the same sort of passion, intensity and power that Lemmy's legendary Motorhead used to attack their rock'n'roll based metal with, this time however Witch Tripper have ramped up the metallic content of their sound, eased off of those bluesy elements and in doing so have found their own sound. From the very first notes of first track "White Lines" it is fairly obvious this is a not a band who are going to be asking us to hug a tree and worry about our carbon footprints anytime soon, no this is a take no prisoners and give no quarter rocket ride of  hi-octane, foot to the floor rock'n'roll played hard, played fast and played dirty. Witch Tripper cleverly keep things tight and economical throughout, with only two songs, "I, Of The Storm" and "Roll The Dice", creeping over the five minute mark, resulting in the albums songs having a more immediate feel and in your face impact, something Desert Psychlist imagines must transfer extremely well to the live environment. Musically the band are as tight as their songs with "Stoff" and Collins laying down a thrumming whirlwind of drum and bass groove for Barlow to decorate with his strong grainy vocals and mix of metallic and bluesy guitar colourings, the three musicians combining to create a thunderous maelstrom of filthy groove that is as exciting as it is enjoyable.

Whether you've got a soft spot for old school heavy metal, a penchant for full on hard rock or a hankering for stonerized heavy blues you will find something on "I, Of The Storm" to quench your thirst and sate your appetite. To paraphrase Jagger and Richards " It's only rock'n'roll but we fucking love it"
Check it out ....

© 2018 Frazer Jones