By Monk
As I sit down to listen to this album, and write these words, the city of Phoenix, deep in the heart of the visually but not sonically arid Arizona, has been recorded as one of the hottest places in the Überverse, with temperatures hitting 120 degrees – and that’s on a cool evening with a breeze blowing in from the desert… So, it seems appropriate that I should be reviewing one of the hottest albums from one of the hottest new bands I have come across in quite some time, a band who blend a heady cocktail that would have even the most experienced mixologist hanging up their shakers and riding off into that desert sunset, with the lid of their Caddy reclined and the stereo on full blast, of course…
What this quartet employ is not a new combination of ingredients – two measures of traditional doom aesthetic, one of proto-NWoBHM enthusiasm, a dash of stoner intensity and a dash of that desert breeze, coupled with one each of cynicism and bravura – but how they combine them is the mark of masters of their craft. As is exemplified in every consistently precise and perfectly curated second of this declarative debut offering.
Lyrically, the band are obviously, and logically, influenced by their proximity to the infamous Area 51, with themes of UFO sightings and conspiracy theories about interstellar demons overtaking humankind omniscient and omnipresent throughout, using these themes to explore the innermost working of the human psych and its interaction with such thematics.
Tonally and stylistically, JC remind me of that produced by my mates in the now defunct Baleful Creed (‘Between Worlds’ almost had me humming the refrain to ‘Autumn Leaves’), especially in Aaron Peltz’s considered and poetic vocal delivery, which aesthetically complements the equally measured deliberations of guitarist Dustin Lyon, bassist Jake Melius and drummer Kyle Eades via the cumulative exposition of passion and pathos, combined an underlying visceral vibrancy that gets the blood pumping and enough punch to floor a heavyweight champion with even the most glancing of blows.
This is one of those albums that combines a myriad of complementary sounds, from psychedelic doom to old school classic rock, in a way which, as intimated above, is not necessarily innovative but is nevertheless effective on every level, from the carefully curated craftsmanship of the songwriting to the practised ease of its delivery.
- ‘Age Of The UFOnaut‘ is out now.
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