On the Shelf 176: Allah Las
Dec. 15th, 2016 08:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedsitter23One of my favorite sources of new music in recent years is the Garage Rock scene. I hesitate to call it a trend, as Nuggets-style Garage rock inspired by the mid-60s bands always exists. It just ebbs and flows.
But certainly, it's at a high point when I look at my favorite musical discoveries of the last decade- John Wesley Coleman III (solo and with his band the Golden Boys), Mystic Braves,and the Growlers. The comeback of King Khan and many of the Estrus and Crypt bands of the 90s, the crossover appeal of King Tuff and Ty Segall, and even reunions from the likes of the Zombies and the Fuzztones. I am surely forgetting many more.
In any case, near the top of that list are the Allah Las, who made my radar with the reverb drenched second album Worship the Sun in 2014.
they return in 2016 with something a bit unexpected. Indeed, they seem to have done what the Mystic Braves did on their last record, which is change gears from '65 to '68. While this seems a logical progression in some ways, it isn't. It was then, but surely at this point, these bands have heard Sgt Peppers and Odessey and Oracle.
Right? In any case, that is the transition they have made on Calico Review, an album that sounds like the band have discovered psychedelics and Saucerful of Secrets, SF Sorrow, and Electric Ladyland have just been released.
WtS is a bit uneven, which I thought of their last album too, though with the new change in style, seems noticeably more uneven. That said, the highs are pretty high, and there is little to complain about. Well worth it though.
Best track is "Famous Phone Figure" which makes one wonder what Andy Partridge is up to these days.
But certainly, it's at a high point when I look at my favorite musical discoveries of the last decade- John Wesley Coleman III (solo and with his band the Golden Boys), Mystic Braves,and the Growlers. The comeback of King Khan and many of the Estrus and Crypt bands of the 90s, the crossover appeal of King Tuff and Ty Segall, and even reunions from the likes of the Zombies and the Fuzztones. I am surely forgetting many more.
In any case, near the top of that list are the Allah Las, who made my radar with the reverb drenched second album Worship the Sun in 2014.
they return in 2016 with something a bit unexpected. Indeed, they seem to have done what the Mystic Braves did on their last record, which is change gears from '65 to '68. While this seems a logical progression in some ways, it isn't. It was then, but surely at this point, these bands have heard Sgt Peppers and Odessey and Oracle.
Right? In any case, that is the transition they have made on Calico Review, an album that sounds like the band have discovered psychedelics and Saucerful of Secrets, SF Sorrow, and Electric Ladyland have just been released.
WtS is a bit uneven, which I thought of their last album too, though with the new change in style, seems noticeably more uneven. That said, the highs are pretty high, and there is little to complain about. Well worth it though.
Best track is "Famous Phone Figure" which makes one wonder what Andy Partridge is up to these days.
