JETDOG - OUTER SPACE IS THE PLACE (2014)
It's hard to resist an album that makes
a Sun Ra reference right there in the title, but luckily, the latest
album from Jetdog (or JETDOG, since they're fond of the caps lock
key) is fun enough to earn its name drop, even if this cosmic canine
doesn't necessarily hail from Saturn. One of the first things you'll
notice once you plug this stuff into your ears is how massively fuzzy
it is; going with the name, it works as either a dog-fur-lined wall
of amps, or the rumbling radiation of a cruiser burning through the
cosmos. Either way, it growls and rattles your woofers without
mercy, forming a nice foundation for the subdued vocals to intone
their message of star-bound psychedelia.
While I would have liked a bit more
meat on the bones (as the album clocks in at just a half-hour),
what's offered in these tracks is done exceptionally well, absolutely
nailing the cosmic hum for which Jetdog seems to be aiming. There's
something of the shoegaze to the walls of fuzzy feedback, but with
enough propulsion behind it to keep it from falling into the
navel-gazing absence of ambition which can sometimes eat up the best
efforts of those sorts of bands. Instead, by keeping the tracks
relatively short and sweet, Jetdog get their point across in
concentrated riff saturations. And while there is more than a little
similarity from track to track (once they get that cosmic hum going,
it's hard to stop), the bass-heavy emphasis means it's nothing which
fans of doom and other heavy music should be waving aside.
Though the lyrics are nearly
overpowered by the resonance of the instrumental side of things, they
do manage to get across some sly humor between the lyrics and the
song-titles. For one thing, they've got a song named for the classic
piece of sleazoid cinema, “Femalien”, which makes for a pairing
Sun Ra likely never imagined. And who knows how many other
references are buried in the buzz? You'll have to give it your own
listen to make heads or tails of it, so for fuzzy astro-sludge, make
yours JETDOG.
~ Gabriel
For Fans Of; Skullflower,
Godflesh, A Place To Bury Strangers, Fleshpress, Sunn O)))
~
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