Australia's Frozen Planet...1969 will be no strangers to those with a bent for swirling heavy psych and cosmic space rock, the trio of Paul Attard (guitar), Lachlan Paine (bass), and Frank Attard (drums), from Sydney, have been pedalling their brand of instrumental madness since 2012 and in that time the band have accrued a catalogue of mind-blowing releases. Today the band release their latest collection of improvised instrumental jams, "Cold Hand of a Gambling Man" (Pepper Shaker Records) an album that picks up where their conceptual release "The Heavy Medicinal Grand Exposition", ended and revives many of the characters that featured in that release.
The concept behind "Cold Hand of a Gambling Man" and its companion piece "The Heavy Medicinal Grand Exposition" is that of a travelling medicine show and the characters who inhabit that show, however for the purposes of this review Desert Psychlist will concentrate on the music rather than how the story and the music interact with each other.
Musically a little heavier than "The Heavy Medicinal Grand Exposition" "Cold Hand of a Gambling Man" finds Frozen Planet...1969 experimenting with a danker slightly more intense and spacier sound, a sound not too far removed from their previous work but one edged with a little extra grit and depth. Opening song "A Sombre Gathering" kicks things off with electronic effects flowing in wave like fashion then makes way for "900 Mile Head Rush" a strident heavy psych workout boasting industrious percussion and throbbing bass that is taken to an altogether other level by crunching guitar refrains and searing lead work. As with every Frozen Planet...1969 release it is Paul Attard's guitar work that the listener will come away remembering most but the guitarist would have next to nothing to hang his scorching lead work and effect laden hooks on if it were not for the excellent support he gets from Lachlan Paine's mix of growling and deep liquid bass and Frank Attard's intricate drumming and shimmering percussion, the pair the engine room that drives each song and the safety net that allows their guitarist the freedom to take risks. From the already mentioned "A Sombre Gathering" and "900 Mile Head Rush" through the experimental " In The Shadow of Forces Unknown", the superbly trippy ""Of Medicine and Moonshine; A Mystic's Interpretation", the percussive "Botanical Barrelhouse" to the epic closing track "Transcending Verbal Concepts" not a note is thrown away in error, nor a beat missed or a dynamic misplaced, the band reaching for perfection and attaining it every time
In Desert Psychlist's opinion instrumental music should have the ability to take its listeners out of themselves and whisk them away to a place in their minds where they can feel distanced from the pressures and rigmarole of their real lives, "Cold Hand of a Gambling Man" does that and a whole lot more.
Check it out …..
© 2020 Frazer Jones
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