About a month
ago my good friend PhillO))) recommended me a new band from Poland
"Weedpecker". Well, to tell the truth during the last
couple of years I developed a strong antipathy for the band names
including words like "bong", "weed", "smoke"
etc. (note: just the band names, not the bands itself). I know it's
ol' good stoner music, and that it's permeated with the spirit of the
mighty herb, but for fantasy's sake, can people get a bit more
creative? To cut the long story short, I wasn't enthusiastic about
listening to another "weedbong smokestoner" band.
To my greatest
surprise my prejudices were pointless. From the first chords of
"Berenjena Pipe" Weedpecker's music charmed me with its
warm, pleasant grooves. When the vocal stepped in, tag "grunge"
automatically came to my mind. Some time after it I was able to
notice how melodic the music itself is. It's not just a usual
combination of riffs which forms couplet-chorus song with a short
solo after it. What Weedpecker offers is well thought compositions
filled with great melodies which create a magic atmosphere both in
your mind and your ears while you listen to it.
The second song
"Mindbreath" had the same spirit as the first one, which
wasn't surprising, because these two songs were actually released as
a single in May 2012 and their task was to form a certain kind of
impression about the band. The band was right to choose these two
songs for a single because they really have the capability to
demonstrate the good vibes coming from the band's music.
Who knows what
guys tried to tell with a title "Don't trust Your Elephant"
(guess it's just the continuation of the trip started with a first song), but this track makes my favorite part of the album. It's an amazing instrumental
track with a meditative beginning filled with different layers of all
kinds of psychedelic sounds, which give way to charming acoustic
guitar. It continues this sonic tale to the point when the almighty
riffs kicks in. And even during the heavy riffage you can hear the
psychedelic landscapes beautifully shifting their forms on the
background of the mix. Solo guitar leads the third part of the song.
Going beyond the pentatonic scale its melodies inflame imagination
and can even endow you a state catharsis if you give all your
attention to the power of vibration behind the music. Brilliant song.
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Fourth song
"Kraken" is an instrumental too. It hasn't impressed me
that much in terms of composition and the overall flow, though there
were some remarkable parts too, For instance I haven't expected to
hear black-metalish riffing with double bass drum in the end of the
song – that sounded fresh! Solo and melodic passages were great as
well.Continuing the theme of the herb the band dedicates next song to Cannabis sativa which is one of the remarkable species of the Cannabaceae family. Clocking at more than 8 minutes the fifth song is called "Sativa Landscapes". It goes without saying that it really creates a good musical interpretation of how such landscapes would look like. Completely Weedpecker's style beginning comes to the point of a highly appreciated fast part which morphs into my favorite part of the song – relaxing, pleasant, dreamy, with extensive solos. When it ends, you have a feeling like it could go on and on, but it is only an illusion, as all things come to an end. Fortunately, not an end of an album!
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P.S.: While
writing a review I was mostly considering the strong points of the
band. Below, I'd like to sum it all up by highlighting the overall
personal/subjective impressions including strong and weak points.
Weak points:
Weak points:
- Whole concept of the album is about weed again
- Compositions
are very cool, but there are still some place for improvement
- Production –
in my opinion digipack preforms much better than the jewel box.
Though the front cover art is great, all other illustrations on the
CD are just variations of one picture. I guess the band can work
more on it next time
Strong points:
- Excellent music which makes this debut album nearly perfect – compositions, melodies, vocals, solos, psychedelic landscapes and all the tiny details in the mix entwine into an outstanding peace of music. An attentive listener will definitely notice that this album was created and thought out with great care and attention. You should be sure to support the band by buying their stuff and coming to their gigs. Weedpecker's folks are talented and very promising, help them become big - they deserve it.