Acid Rooster - Acid Rooster (2019)
Coming to us from Leipzig in Germany,
while the three-piece of Acid Rooster are releasing their first LP
this year, they've been playing together for a couple of decades or
so, and have been friends since even before that. Such familiarity
seems almost essential to the nature of their songs, which on this
release are partially pre-written and part improvisational. As you
might guess just from that description and their locale, there's a
lot of psychedelic and krautrock flavors swirling about in the music
of Acid Rooster,
Leading with the evocatively titled
“Oculatus Abyss”, which, like all of the songs on the LP, is
instrumental, AR immediately lay down a hooky bass and drums groove
before quickly adding in some twisting guitar gnarls. Letting that
groove foundation ride for a while to set the stage, they then take
off in a variety of exploratory interpolations, bringing in pedal
effects and switching them out as strikes their fancy. Despite
running over five minutes, it feels much quicker than that as soon as
they drop into silence with its end, which makes the
eleven-minute-plus status of follow-up “Moon Loop” seem less
intimidating. Taking a slow, almost drone-like start, the song
audibly charges itself up as it rides along, and as sprawling as it
gets, the band does an excellent job of keeping a grounding rhythmic
pull going underneath the starry-minded expansiveness. It gets
almost hypnotic at points, just working its magic to impressive
effect, and just like the opening track, the way it draws you in
makes it hard to believe that it runs as long as it does.
With “Sulfur”, the following track,
things pick up into a harder groove, with some truly tasty guitar
soloing laced throughout its cosmic rock-out. This is probably the
track most likely to get your head knocking back and forth, and the
pop-up saxophone wailing helps that impulse right along. Things cool
back down with “Time Lapse”, which roams a lush soundscape of
warm vibes and quavering string reverb. It's a very friendly
atmosphere, particularly coming off of the somewhat spiky “Sulfur”,
and as the opener of the B-side, it makes for a great transition,
with some surprising poignancy tucked into its sustained measures.
“Focus” continues the chillness,
just cruising along on echoing guitar lines and firm but laid-back
drum pacing, but finds some extra fuel about halfway through, and
starts setting off towards the sky. Guitar, bass, drums, and synths
all find extra speed and sparkle, twisting into a dazzling fireworks
display before coming back down to Earth. “Äther” closes out
the album, with a nice bit of reflectiveness in its run-time being
just a few seconds off from the first track. Unlike “Oculatus
Abyss”, it takes a dark tone to its psychedelic grooving, and while
it's a bit of a sharp shift from the mood of the rest of the LP, it's
also a strong showing of how well the band can handle heavier and
angrier flavors while maintaining their high-octane performances and
sense of character. All in all, it's a fantastic album, and a
thoroughly impressive first LP. If you dig on psychedelic rock, do
not let this one slip past you unheard. And if you check that box
and also like to get your music on vinyl, move fast, as I expect the
three hundred copies pressed on that format to move fast. Here's to
Acid Rooster!
~ Gabriel
For Fans Of; Camel, Frozen
Planet....1969, Hawkwind, Mondo Drag, Zombie Picnic
~
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