S p i n d r i f t again. On Magnificence in the to want to be on the fringe enjoying a
T h e L e g e n d o f G o d’ s G u n Memory, Yahowa 13 returns to the genre that is, by nature, inaccessible manic world of bizarre rock first to some people. Still, Isis continues < Tee Pee Records > populated by Can and Captain their practice of hard-edged music When it comes to psychedelic neo- Beefheart. The album resuscitates that is inclusive and undeniably spaghetti western bands, there is the otherworldly jams and chants interesting. only one band that matters: Spindrift. that makes Yahowa 13 a mind- Strike that. They are the only bending pleasure whether you’re psychedelic, neo-spaghetti western tuning in or dropping out. band. The Los Angeles-based septet takes more than a morsel from the I s i s plate of the undisputed champion of W a v e r i n g R a d i a n t the Western score, Ennio Morricone, < Ipecac Recordings > and samples from his brand of reverbed-out guitar, dusty tumbling up in indie-pop, and delivers them Metalheads employ the finest drums and lonesome whistling. neatly packaged as extremely catchy tools of musical vivisection. They Spindrift could almost push their summer songs. We’re taken to the carefully dissect a song, examine its Morricone homage to the limit on New Orleans bayous, South African parts, then catalogue it using what their soundtrack for the indie film, townships, and the beaches of Lagos. logicians call a material conditional. The Legend of God’s Gun, if their The stomp and sway of zydeco seeps sound wasn’t so anchored with the into “Winter Games,” as singer Matt rough-and-tumble of the good ol’ Popieluch’s wavering, laid-back voice rock song. The soundtrack leads plays with cowbells and handclaps. listeners through the story, with a The tip-toeing of the ebullient guitars narrator who’d be at home in a ‘70s of “Early Warnings” evoke the South movie preview. On the title track, the African rhythms that made their way anonymous voice takes us to the into Paul Simon’s Sub-Saharan lawless town of Playa Diablo, where infused, Graceland. But Person to a gun-wielding preacher seeks to Person does not simply glean these exact revenge on the scorpion- cultural influences, instead Foreign venom drinking outlaw, El Sobero, Born interprets them through a filter the “number one bad guy.” Singer/ of rock and roll. “Vacationing People,” songwriter/guitarist Kirkpatrick takes Brit poppy rhythms, interweaves Thomas ensures that the western Caribbean guitar lines, and culminates aesthetic stays fresh by infusing in a brass band closing out the song Example: If a vocalist mimics vomiting in a slow march. Sunny, but never over blastbeats, then it qualifies as sappy, Person to Person provides a grindcore. If the vocalist barfs about vacation from ennui-filled, mope rock. eating human flesh, then it’s goregrind. But the system breaks down with Isis, Y a h o w a 1 3 the prog-metal band whose melodic, Magnificence in the Memory slowly burning musical movements swell into symphonies of combustion. < Drag City > On Wavering Radiant, the band “I know you and in slumber/I’ve continues to test the auspices of got your number/And it’s written what constitutes metal. Their previous on your forehead.” Such is the effort, In the Absence of Truth, offering in “Camp of the Gypsies,” explored the more melodic side of from the spiritual consciousness rock, relying on intricate guitar play cosmonauts-cum-psych-rockers and airy drum lines. Wavering Radiant Yahowa 13. The intraneural takes the melodic guitar work that subtle elements of ‘60s freakbeat, exploration by Yahowa 13 began has defined Isis for the last decade psychedelic surf, and lo-fi rock in the 1970s when members of and lays it over more traditionally into the mix. On “Indian Run” the the Source Family—a psychedelic metal beats. The double-bass kicks driving thumps of a drum and Native commune in the Hollywood Hills— are back, but the album still explores American chanting lead into the formed the musical group with their the introspective spaces that makes galloping guitar lines that sear like leader Father Yod at the helm. When the band more akin to Massive Attack the desert sun and soar like a red- Yod died in 1975, they disbanded, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. tailed hawk. “The Scorpion’s Venom” but in 2007, original members Djin The eight-and-a-half-minute anthem shimmies with the funky strums and Aquarian, Octavius Aquarian, and “Ghost Key,” begins only with softly big drums inherent to the swinging Sunflower Aquarian began touring rolling drums, crispy minimalist guitar, ‘60s or weirdos Brian Jonestown and bass that wouldn’t stand out in Massacre. Whether slinging a gun a new wave song. Then the weight or a guitar, Spindrift’s outlaw sound of vocalist Aaron Turner’s gruff barks brings together the desert vision and tsunami guitar washes away the quest and the cosmic voyage. simple intro with extreme heaviness. Like most Isis songs, “Ghost Key” F o r e i g n B o r n alternates between these moments P e r s o n t o P e r s o n of quiet and clamor, buttressing order upon disorder, and amplifying each < Secretly Canadian > when shored upon one another. Isis Foreign Born’s music, as their name could be a much more accessible implies, travels. On Person to Person, band if Turner abandoned the guttural the band takes musical traditions screams, but if he did, Isis may cease from around the world, wraps them being metal. Metal fans, after all, tend