-=- SHGZ -=- * Shoegaze * Indie * Post-Rock * Grunge * Dream Pop * Psych-Rock * Ethereal * ARTIST..: Slow Season ALBUM...: Westing GENRE...: Rock STYLE...: Hard Rock, Stoner Rock, Psychedelic Rock YEAR....: 2016 LABEL...: RidingEasy ENCODER.: LAME 3.98.4 -V0 BITRATE.: 260 kbps avg QUALITY.: 44.1kHz / Joint Stereo SOURCE..: CD TRACKS..: 8 SIZE....: 69.05 MB URL..: http://www.facebook.com/slowseasonmusic - TRACKLIST 1 Y'wanna 4:20 2 Flag 3:44 3 The Jackal 4:37 4 Saurek÷nig 4:42 5 Damascus 5:37 6 Miranda 4:03 7 Manifest Eschaton 5:57 8 Rainmaker 4:02 Total Playtime: 37:02 Psych Hard Rockers v Slow Season v have returned with their new album v Westing. It feels like only yesterday that the band released their superb debut album on RidingEasy Records. It's good to see that Slow Season have continued their relationship with RidingEasy Records as that label has been on such a rich vein of form lately releasing so many great albums. Anyway, this is Slow Season's time to shine and believe me they do. As their new album sees the band plays a more psychedelic style of classic/stoner/hard rock riffs. Slow Season continue their heavy use of distorted psychedelic stoner/classic riffs on songs such as Damascus, Miranda and Rainmaker. The album builds up to an exciting climax on the final two songs with Manifest Eschaton and Rainmaker. Slow Season leave you wanting more on Westing as the album could have done with one more song to round things out. The production is first rate throughout as the album contains a cool and understated vintage feel. Westing is a towering achievement and an album that will only enhance Slow Season's reputation further. * I first became aware of Slow Season a couple of years ago when seeing them live at a dive bar in Tempe, Arizona. I was there to see one of the local openers, probably a friend's band, and Slow Season were the headlining act. I had a few too many Hamms or maybe it was Old Style (Don't judge me!) that night so I was "dazed and confused" remembering what Slow Season was about other than that I thought they sounded like Led Zeppelin. Fast forward to July of 2016, Slow Season is releasing their third full-length album via Riding Easy Records. I'm going to point out the elephant in the room. This album sounds like Led Zeppelin six ways to Sunday. This isn't a bad thing, in fact, it's awesome in my opinion. There is so much detail within the eight tracks, I swear the guitarist sat down and learned every Zeppelin tune while learning how to play. Even the effects he uses are dead-on Jimmy Page worship. I'm willing to bet that any fan of '60s/'70s guitar rock is going to love this album. The song "Damascus" is a time machine. It's so retro that it should be put out as a single on an 8-track tape. In my opinion, Slow Season is an excellent throwback to the days when rock ruled the radio airwaves and disco sucked. * Contrary to the band's name, downtime is a rarity for Slow Season. Sandwiched between summer 2015's extensive tour with their RidingEasy labelmates Mondo Drag and Electric Citizen, plus several short west coast jaunts, the hard-working quartet also found time to hammer out its most powerful and ambitious album yet. Written, engineered, produced and mixed themselves on their own equipment, entirely on analog tape, Westing is a hard-hitting and powerful reminder of how at one time a rock 'n' roll band could be a transcendent experience. While Slow Season's sound continues to effortlessly nod to the great bands of the 60s-70s, Westing is truly the sound of a band coming into their own. The songwriting is tight, howling and hypnotic. The sound is classic, yet refreshingly new. "It's a different album," says drummer and primary recording engineer Cody Tarbell. "But we never have wanted to find a particular sound or any one thing and be attached to it permanently. A big part of our records is experimenting." The Visalia, CA band + Daniel Rice (vocals, guitar), David Kent (guitar), Hayden Doyel (bass), and Cody Tarbell (drums) + has recorded all of their albums on reel-to-reel at Tarbell's home studio in a cornfield. This affords them the time to experiment getting sounds, while maintaining focus on the most important notion that performance is key. As with previous albums, recording was pretty immediate, tracked between January 15th and the beginning of February 2016 to 16-track tape and mixed to 2-track tape. Equally as ambitious as the band's self-sufficient production is the sprawling lyrical theme to the album. Thematically picking up where the Slow Season's previous full length Mountains left off, Westing tackles some heady issues. "Westing follows a loose narrative about our nation's loss of innocence as it explores its frontiers," vocalist Daniel Rice explains. "Re-contextualized in a story about an unnamed protagonist faced with choosing between different ideological allegiances and his own social identity." From song to song, the album follows what Rice explains as, "the unholy trinity of greed+power+violence, the injustice wrought from this, persisting in willful ignorance, and reaping what is sown." A deep conceptual arc, for sure, and one that adds further weight to the Slow Season's intensity. Album opener "Y'Wanna" erupts from the speakers as if the band couldn't even wait for the tape to start recording. it's a full-throttle rocker reminiscent of Zep's "Immigrant Song" with sly reference to "Four Sticks", all groove and pummel. "Flag" keeps things rolling along with its bouncing, stop-n-go guitar riff. The 6/8-time blues sway of "The Jackal" echoes early Sabbath malefic boogie, while "Saurekonig" is a cavernous and volcanic mass driven by huge drums, ringing slide guitar and ominous drone. "Damascus" is a rollicking anthem driven by Tarbell's syncopated hi-hat/snare interplay and Rice's explosive wail proving just how much of a dynamic powerhouse Slow Season has become. Throughout, Westing is a smart and snarling rocker that sounds like rock 'n' roll records should: massive, infectious and inviting repeat listens. -=- SHGZ -=- P.S. ** Thanks *** *** BCC FNT IPC SSR *** *** For Knowing Where The Music Is At *** *** Props to CaHeSo, awesome Asian Indie/Shoegaze *** *** And to FANG/HOUND for supporting all the Indie lovers out there *** --===-- ********************* * NuHS we miss you! * *********************