Wand "Plum (Drag City)"
Drag City favorites Wand have expanded their roster. Now, what’s the first thing a band does when they expand their roster? Why they write a bunch of new tunes and record a new album to showcase their new sound. Plum does just that. From the very first bouncy piano licks of the title track, you know you are in for a new, and dare I say (I dare! I dare!) improved Wand. Buoyant, laid back psychedelia seems to be the name of the game for Wand 2.0. If Jonny Greenwood and Tim Presley formed a group to cover Donovan songs, they would sound a lot like this. Check out the aforementioned title-track “Plum.”
Behind The Shadow Drops "Harmonic (Temporary Residence)"
Behind The Shadow Drops is the new solo project from “Taka” Goto, the enigmatic guitarist/composer behind Japan’s MONO. The resulting epic sound of Harmonic (Temporary Residence) is a mix of Mogwai at their most glacial and Brian Eno at his most ambient, only both things happen the same time. Also, you should mix some sexy processed beats into the mix (Thanks producer John McEntire!), for that description to work. Not sure why I’m telling you to do the musical chemistry there. I should have mixed that in. Oh well. Moving forward. If you like simultaneously lovely and guttural, experimental guitar music, then you are gonna flip for this new release from a man who is always pushing himself as well as his audience. Check out the Trans-Am meets Enya meets Godspeed You! Black Emperor sounds (I would buy that record or at least vote for them on Family Feud!) of the first single “Positive Shadow Negative Light.”
Chelsea Wolfe "Hiss Spin (Sargent House)"
You better hope that Gene Simmons doesn’t win that trademark on the “devil hand” like he’s trying to. Because it won’t take long listening to Chelsea Wolfe’s 6th LP Hiss Spun (Sargent House) before you are slowly nodding your head along to the goth rock and throwing up devil hands to anyone who’s around (or possibly to an empty room as I am doing right now). Slow, thick metal sounds are the name of the game on this exciting new record. Vicious, buzzing guitars and crisp drums accompany Chelsea’s otherworldly vocals, just out of reach. If you’ve found yourself anxious and quick to anger of late (and frankly, who hasn’t?) this record is going to resonate with you. Get ready to carve Chelsea’s name into your desk during homeroom tomorrow as you check out the excellent “16 Psyche.”
Dead Rider "Crew Licks (Drag City)"
Sometimes the sound of a band is hard to describe. Other times, the band’s had a record premiere on the High Times magazine website. Dead Rider falls into the latter category. Led by former U.S. Maple guitarist Todd Rittmann, Crew Licks (Drag City) is full of experimental rock sounds for those who like their music a little… um… smokey? Todd’s ZZ Top-esque vocals paired up with a band that sometimes sounds as straight ahead as anything on classic rock radio, and other times as experimental as… well, as experimental as most other Drag City releases. Songs are deconstructed and detuned, leaving the whole thing sounding like Liars remixes of the aforementioned ZZ Top. Check out their cover of The Grateful Dead’s “Ramble On Rose.”