Sand Reckoner’s self-titled debut full-length release is as genre-bending as anything they’ve done to date. This three-piece, Boston-by-way-of-Pennsylvania band has been making a name for itself in the psychedelic indie underground but their debut proves that they are much more than a throwback to the late sixties and early seventies. Sure, there are healthy doses of Crazy Horse, early Pink Floyd and Blue Cheer, but there’s also an equal measure of Thurston Moore (of Sonic Youth) and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (minus their trademark irony). Each track moves deftly from one influence to another while remaining a cohesive piece of work. The record opens with the rolling, bluesy “Shooting Bullets”, their most Zeppelin-esque track, moving on to the Neil Young influenced “Morning Star”, an acoustic guitar and harmonica-centric ballad. “The Darkest Dye” could be a lost track from The Band, while “Flesh and Bones” is the bastard child of Jon Spencer and Jack White. And here we are, not quite halfway through the record. Later in the album “Terror in the Massanutten Part I” is a surf-rock, spy movie theme song custom made for driving fast with the windows down. The Thurston Moore influence makes its first appearance on “The Deserter” and sticks through the rest of the album. It is most welcome in “No One’s Veil”, a nearly seven minute trip through all manner of psychedelic influences—call and response verses, guitar noise breakdowns, Pink Floyd-ian, dreamy “woo-ooh” choruses. Many thanks to Sand Reckoner for providing the template for a modern psych revolution. Hear it for yourself at Sand Reckoner’s Bandcamp page. -George Dow
Related
