ARTiST: The Warlocks
ALBUM: Heavy Deavy Skull Lover
BiTRATE: 192kbps avg
QUALiTY: EAC Secure Mode / LAME 3.97 Final / -V2 --vbr-new / 44.100Khz
LABEL: Tee Pee Records
GENRE: Rock
SiZE: 73.63 megs
PLAYTiME: 0h 50min 32sec total
RiP DATE: 2007-10-22
STORE DATE: 2007-10-23
Track List:
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01. The Valley Of Death 5:03
02. Moving Mountains 10:59
03. So Paranoid 6:27
04. Slip Beneath 8:07
05. Zombie Like Lovers 4:50
06. Dreamless Days 5:31
07. Interlude In Reverse 3:11
08. Death, I Hear You Walking 6:24
Release Notes:
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Not so quietly, or subtly, continuing the work of The Jesus & Mary Chain, The
Warlocks has been a consistent presence on the Neo-Psychedelia scene since 2000.
Fans of the genre have reveled in the nostalgia mash presented by front man
Bobby Hecksher and his eight piece for the better part of this decade, and the
band's new release Heavy Deavy Skull Lover, is par for the course in its album a
year journey. The goth rock octet with a heart of jam band gives it the ole
college try for the sixth time, if college were Evergreen State in the late
1960s, and issues another solid set of drug culture inspired death rock with a
Sonic Youth kicker.
"So Paranoid" is meant, it seems, to be the record's centerpiece, offering more
of a hook than any of the other tracks, and a dreamy vocal that is meant less to
be ingested than absorbed through the pores. "Death, I Hear You Walking" is a
more than solid track, and is exactly what went through Art Garfunkel's head
when he was on acid, including an inappropriate amount of harmonizing and
buzzing, the presence of which only serves to strengthen the song. "Interlude in
Reverse" offers up a vocal performance the bastard child of Robert Plant ("In
the Light" Plant, not "Heartbreaker" Plant) and Thom Yorke would be mighty proud
of. "Slip Beneath," while not as exciting as a Machines of Loving Grace tune,
does manage to employ a good amount of decent electric guitar work, worth
mentioning because by the time you get there, you will miss it, and the Velvet
Underground reputation they have enjoyed until now. The most exciting track on
the album comes from "Zombie Like Lovers," which offers a driving percussion
section reminiscent of the man Bonham, bringing the marriage of Sixties and
Nineties full circle, and gives the album a kind of catharsis.
"Dreamless Days" almost manages to recall some Pink Floyd, circa The Piper at
the Gates of Dawn, the trippy mess of guitars taking us back to our fathers'
LPs, while the rhythm section plants us firmly in the early nineties when kids
didn't know whether to wear flannel or eye liner. In fact, if The Warlocks had
made their appearance on the scene any earlier, you might have counted on seeing
them on The Crow soundtrack, and that is not exactly a criticism, except perhaps
for the fact that we have seen this act before, and the improvements they bring
to it are either far too subtle to make a difference, or simply serve to muddy
the mix.
The strength of The Warlocks comes in its ability to revel in black light
psychedelia without indulging in the brooding atmosphere so often associated
with it. If your girlfriend just dumped you, you'll find little comfort here,
but certainly look to immerse yourself in androgynous good times, as Bowie fans
come of age, and Radiohead fans take a step back from pretentiousness. The album
is a must buy for purists, but in all offers the same fare as previous releases.
For a better introduction to the band, check out The Phoenix Album. I promise,
you'll still get all of the skulls, but with more of the listenability.