Some may remember back in 2023 Desert Psychlist getting a little excited about "Contact" the debut release of Floridian groovsters Florist, an enthralling blend of stonerized metal and space rock that we described as being "music to skateboard through wormholes to". Well we are about to get excited all over again because Florist, Frankie Consoli (vocals/guitar,/sitar); Kevin Roy (bass); Mike Amador (drums) and Jer Dillow (theremin, synthesizers, percussion), have just dropped their second album "Adrift" (Threat Collection Records), a release that takes those ideas explored on previous album "Contact" to the next level.
Florist kick off their second album with "432Hz" a thoroughly engaging instrumental that splices together eastern motifs and Hawkwind-esque whooshes and swirls over a groove that for large parts of its existence boasts an otherworldly reggae-ish feel but does in its last quarter wade through heavier waters. Next up is "Another Moon" and here we find Florist jamming a mix of stoner-ish and heavy psych grooves beneath clean easy on the ear vocal melodies, the space like whoops and whirls this band are so fond of utilizing still all very much in place but this time applied with a modicum of subtlety. "Out Of Space" follows and is classic space rock straight out of the Hawkwind for dummies manual, in other words hard driven rhythms supporting fairly simple chord progressions over which clipped clean and slightly punkish vocal melodies do battle with electronic synthesised weirdness, it is quite frankly SUPERB! "Grow" kicks off slightly quirky and off-centred accompanied by an equally quirky vocal melody but then starts pulling into its spacious grooviness elements of the blues and classic rock, the band even sounding a little Deep Purple-ish in the songs closing stages, albeit a Deep Purple with Hawkwind's Michael 'DikMik' Davies on the keys. Last but one comes "Adrift (Part A)" a tome that finds the band sounding like a cross between Nashville's Howling Giant and 60's psychedelic cult legends Spirit, it is followed by "Adrift (Part B)" a song which sees the band donning black robes matched with lurid legwear to bring us an instrumental opus that is parts proto-doom and parts acidic rock and is totally on-point in both departments.
Those out there holding a flaming torch aloft for the early space rock of Hawkwind and first album era UFO while also harbouring a deep love of 90's desert rock and mid 70's proto-metal will love what Florist bring to the table with "Adrift".
No comments:
Post a Comment