LOW HUMS – Night Magic Wine 2018 (LP Kozmik Artifactz Records)
Low Hums are hailing from Seattle Washington DC and started out as a band, back in 2009, when core-member Sanoj realized that his touring cycle (with Earth and with Marissa Nadler) was over and he wanted to form a band. Sanoj explains about the name of the band: “The name ‘Low Hums’ is from a dream, and I wrote down “low howls” in my notebook. Somehow that became Low Hums. It was the sound of wolves howling at night”. The band has quite a few digital releases through their Bandcamp page and this album here is their second analog release! A Special limited vinyl edition released via Kozmik Artifactz Records from Germany. The current lineup of the band is Sanoj Sniksah (Vox, Guitar), Crystal Powwwers (Bass), Rolly Fingers (Drums, Vox) and Miles ‘Baja’ Panto (Guitar). “Night Magic Wine” was recorded in Seattle by Jack Endino (Nirvana, Screaming Trees, TAD, Mudhoney, Soundgarden, Murder City Devils) who Sanoj had known for many years. Sanoj about Jack: “We decided to ask Jack to record and produce this record for a couple reasons. He likes guitars and drums and all things rock and roll. This batch of songs really seemed to be a good fit for him. Jack is also penchant for letting a band find their sound organically. He didn’t let us get too hung up on the little details and told us to leave the mistakes in. We actually ended up mostly with first or second takes on all the basics. Even when we did do more, we ended up with the earlier versions”… Their influences are so many and simultaneously so hard to detect! From The Velvets and Hendrix to Sun Ra and Can! Their love to the 60s West Coast is shown all over the album while the twin guitar sound creates a sunny warm feeling of the deserted alternative 80s and the low indie 90s! The album contains 10 songs (from 2 to 3 and a half minutes long) that are impregnated with a Paisley Underground feeling! The album takes off with “In The Spin”, a tune that puts ‘Paisley’ in the sunny 60s! “Attention” is a hard-driving tune with awesome lead guitar while “US 101” brings to mind mid 70s bands like Blue Oyster Cult for instance! Also, a lyric from this track lends the title to the album, “Night Magic Wine”. The one that follows could be the summer-hit of 2018, the 60s influenced catchy garage “Don’t Know Why” with a superb but discreet farfisa sound, a tune that I’m pretty sure Kim Fowley would like to have it on side B of his “Trip”! A lazy and slowed Green On Red follows with “Reprise Of The Vampire Girls”, such a cool track! “Too Early To Tell” goes South (!) while “Victorian Witch” is another cool up-tempo catchy hit-might-single full of energy, ready to surf n’ roll! The atmosphere becomes a little hazy and stoned, like a desert scene from a Tarantino movie, on “Song About Fleet”. My personal highlight of the album is “New Peyote Gunfight”, an instrumental, druggy, trippy, drenched into LSD, with a torturous cinematic fuzzy lysergic guitar sound! The album closes with “Sunflowers Of Doom”, a light fuzzy guitar R n’ R with some of Ram Jam’s dirtiness! But, hey! This isn’t over yet. Kozmik Artifactz decided to include the band’s EP “Shine Rock”, digitally released August 15, 2016. “Shine Rock” contains 4 bonus tracks that were recorded in an old church turned recording studio in the small fishing town of Anacortes Washington, home of Karl Blau and Mt Eerie. A big echo-y room with not a computer in sight… The four songs are “Shine Rock”, “Skateboard”, “Purple Berries” and “Motorcycle Blues” and since they were recorded 2-3 years prior to this release, they are showing to the listener that the band is developing a style of their own which it starts becoming a recognizable identity! What Are You Waiting For? Let the Hums slowly crawl inside your door… Well done Low Hums! (TimeLord Michalis)
RELEASE INFO:
Label: Kozmik Artifactz Records
Format: LP, Vinyl, Album, Black Vinyl, 100 copies, Deluxe Gatefold Cover
Format: LP, Vinyl, Album, Clear Vinyl, 100 copies, Deluxe Gatefold Cover
Format: LP, Vinyl, Album, Solid Purple Vinyl, 111 copies, Hand-numbered Exclusive Kozmik Artifactz Edition, Deluxe Gatefold Cover
Release Date: 15 June 2018
Tracklist
1 | In The Spin | 3:25 |
2 | Attention | 2:07 |
3 | US 101 | 2:25 |
4 | Don’t Know Why | 2:40 |
5 | Reprise Of The Vampire Girls | 2:40 |
6 | Too Early To Tell | 2:52 |
7 | Victorian Witch | 2:20 |
8 | Song About Fleet | 3:09 |
9 | New Peyote Gunfight | 3:25 |
10 | Sunflowers Of Doom | 2:34 |
11 | Shine Rock (Shine Rock EP) | 5:29 |
12 | Skateboard (Shine Rock EP) | 2:21 |
13 | Purple Berries (Shine Rock EP) | 3:25 |
14 | Motorcycle Blues (Shine Rock EP) | 4:15 |