ALL THEM WITCHES
''DYING SURFER MEETS HIS MAKER''
OCTOBER 30 2015
45:33
********************
1 Call Me Star 03:54 (Charles Michael Parks Jr.)
2 El Centro 08:25 (Allan Van Cleave, Charles Michael Parks Jr., Ben McLeod, Robby Steebler)
3 Dirt Preachers 03:44 (Charles Michael Parks Jr.)
4 This Is Where It Falls Apart 07:01 (Allan Van Cleave, Charles Michael Parks Jr., Ben McLeod, Robby Steebler)
5 Mellowing 03:11 (Charles Michael Parks Jr., Ben McLeod)
6 Open Passageways 03:14 (Charles Michael Parks Jr.)
7 Welcome To The Caveman Future (Instrumental 2) 02:32 (Charles Michael Parks Jr.)
8 Talisman 06:07 (Charles Michael Parks Jr., Ben McLeod)
9 Blood And Sand/Milk And Endless Waters 07:20 (Allan Van Cleave, Charles Michael Parks Jr., Ben McLeod, Robby Steebler)
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Michael Parks Jr - Vocals, Bass
Robby Staebler - Drums
Allan Van Cleave - Fender Rhodes
Ben McLeod - Electric Guitar
********************
REVIEW/AMG
Thom Jurek
"Inspired" and "heavy" are words that come to mind when taking in Dying Surfer Meets His Maker, the third long-player from Nashville's All Them Witches. In recent years, All Them Witches' live rep has become nearly mythical as they combine mercurial yet sensitive singer/songwriter lyricism, tripped-out post-psych hard blues, and stoner rock metallic thud. The album was recorded in an isolated cabin on a Pigeon Forge, Tennessee hilltop overlooking Dollywood far below. It was cut mostly live from the floor by Mikey Allred, with overdubs added later. One song opens onto another as it unfolds into a labyrinthine, head-expanding ride. On "Call Me Star," gently fingerpicked acoustic guitars are adorned by a weeping slide; snares and tom-toms frame bassist Charles Michael Parks, Jr.'s lonesome, from-the-void vocal, which recalls prime Robert Plant. The restraint gives way to a spacy rockist vibe, but never loses its rootsy feel. A basic one-chord electric guitar vamp introduces the massive "El Centro." It quickly gives way to a massive blown-out bassline from Parks. Ben McLeod's wiry fuzz guitars and Robby Staebler's rolling drums add punch and urgency. (Few bands know how to make use of a really good drummer; All Them Witches have that down cold.) Squalling guitars rife with feedback and tense rhythms à la Loop mesh with the heavy, hard, and head-nodding plod of Sleep. Eight minutes feels like half an hour as time and space slip the ropes. By contrast, the cut-time "Dirt Preachers" is a brief wonky 12-bar punk blues with metal guitar vamps. The great Mickey Raphael guests on "This Is Where It Falls Apart," a snail-paced psychedelic blues delivered with tense restraint and colored with dubwise effects. On "Open Passageways," Staebler's declamatory drumming (which recalls the earthiness of Otha Turner's Rising Star Fife & Drum Band with the dark authority of Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks") gradually extends to Allan Van Cleave's melodic old-world violin break before the entire band erects a doomy climatic architecture. "Talisman" commences as Americana fare, but at over six minutes dissolves into a trance inducer of roiling drums and snaky, overdriven guitars and bass. Everything is on stun. Van Cleave's Fender Rhodes is the only thing binding it to the earth. At first, "Blood & Sand/Milk & Endless Waters" sounds like a cyclic return to "This Is Where It Falls Apart," but its fuzzed-out rolling thunder brings in the heaviness of "El Centro" too. The jam comes into its own when layers of fiddle and silvery blues guitar ripple forth before Staebler's fat, grooving drums help rock it to a close. Dying Surfer Meets His Maker showcases All Them Witches in complete control of their songwriting, arranging, producing, and performing. Slow-burning albums that provide this much weight, creativity, surprise, and enduring pleasure are rare.
********************
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Thom Jurek
Gris-Gris
All Them Witches are a neo-psychedelic, dark blues quartet from Nashville. They unapologetically use the music of earlier eras to forge a loose, spacy, hard rock sound of their own. While it is easy to pick out influences -- including Blue Cheer, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Mountain, Gris-Gris and Sun, Moon & Herbs-era Dr. John, and the electric Delta swamp blues of Junior Kimbrough -- it is much more difficult to pin them down due to a unique meld of crafted songwriting and spacious grooves.
Fronted by bassist Charles Michael Parks, Jr., the lineup is rounded out by drummer Robby Staebler, guitarist Ben McLeod, and Allan Van Cleave on Fender Rhodes, organ, and other instruments. Parks met Staebler while they were working at "a corporate hippie store." Staebler gave him some music he had been writing and playing with McLeod; it inspired Parks to jam with them. Staebler's pal, keyboardist Van Cleave, was also invited and All Them Witches were born.
Our Mother Electricity
The bandmembers credit the group's birthdate as January 6, 2012. Almost immediately they began recording. Their debut album, Our Mother Electricity, was the first release on Germany's Elektrohasch by an American band. The band immediately set to work on a follow-up, issuing the EP Extra Pleasant, recorded with two microphones direct to a cassette recorder. They began a grueling touring schedule and garnered a multitude of fans, who were encouraged to record and trade concert tapes with one another. Lightning at the Door was quietly self-released through the quartet's Bandcamp page in early 2014, and later marketed by Tone Tree Music. All Them Witches received international critical attention for this recording, all the while continuing to tour. Their profile increased during a series of dates with doom rockers Windhand.
Dying Surfer Meets His Maker
All Them Witches signed to New West in early 2015. They played to intense fanfare at music festivals such as SXSW and Bonnaroo. The label licensed Lightning at the Door for reissue. The band recorded its third album in Pigeon Forge, in eastern Tennessee. They set up a studio in a remote cabin where they lived and worked, and finished the album in six days. Dying Surfer Meets His Maker was released at the end of October in 2015.
********************
WEBSITE
********************
TO THE TOP
********************
''DYING SURFER MEETS HIS MAKER''
OCTOBER 30 2015
45:33
********************
1 Call Me Star 03:54 (Charles Michael Parks Jr.)
2 El Centro 08:25 (Allan Van Cleave, Charles Michael Parks Jr., Ben McLeod, Robby Steebler)
3 Dirt Preachers 03:44 (Charles Michael Parks Jr.)
4 This Is Where It Falls Apart 07:01 (Allan Van Cleave, Charles Michael Parks Jr., Ben McLeod, Robby Steebler)
5 Mellowing 03:11 (Charles Michael Parks Jr., Ben McLeod)
6 Open Passageways 03:14 (Charles Michael Parks Jr.)
7 Welcome To The Caveman Future (Instrumental 2) 02:32 (Charles Michael Parks Jr.)
8 Talisman 06:07 (Charles Michael Parks Jr., Ben McLeod)
9 Blood And Sand/Milk And Endless Waters 07:20 (Allan Van Cleave, Charles Michael Parks Jr., Ben McLeod, Robby Steebler)
********************
Michael Parks Jr - Vocals, Bass
Robby Staebler - Drums
Allan Van Cleave - Fender Rhodes
Ben McLeod - Electric Guitar
********************
REVIEW/AMG
Thom Jurek
"Inspired" and "heavy" are words that come to mind when taking in Dying Surfer Meets His Maker, the third long-player from Nashville's All Them Witches. In recent years, All Them Witches' live rep has become nearly mythical as they combine mercurial yet sensitive singer/songwriter lyricism, tripped-out post-psych hard blues, and stoner rock metallic thud. The album was recorded in an isolated cabin on a Pigeon Forge, Tennessee hilltop overlooking Dollywood far below. It was cut mostly live from the floor by Mikey Allred, with overdubs added later. One song opens onto another as it unfolds into a labyrinthine, head-expanding ride. On "Call Me Star," gently fingerpicked acoustic guitars are adorned by a weeping slide; snares and tom-toms frame bassist Charles Michael Parks, Jr.'s lonesome, from-the-void vocal, which recalls prime Robert Plant. The restraint gives way to a spacy rockist vibe, but never loses its rootsy feel. A basic one-chord electric guitar vamp introduces the massive "El Centro." It quickly gives way to a massive blown-out bassline from Parks. Ben McLeod's wiry fuzz guitars and Robby Staebler's rolling drums add punch and urgency. (Few bands know how to make use of a really good drummer; All Them Witches have that down cold.) Squalling guitars rife with feedback and tense rhythms à la Loop mesh with the heavy, hard, and head-nodding plod of Sleep. Eight minutes feels like half an hour as time and space slip the ropes. By contrast, the cut-time "Dirt Preachers" is a brief wonky 12-bar punk blues with metal guitar vamps. The great Mickey Raphael guests on "This Is Where It Falls Apart," a snail-paced psychedelic blues delivered with tense restraint and colored with dubwise effects. On "Open Passageways," Staebler's declamatory drumming (which recalls the earthiness of Otha Turner's Rising Star Fife & Drum Band with the dark authority of Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks") gradually extends to Allan Van Cleave's melodic old-world violin break before the entire band erects a doomy climatic architecture. "Talisman" commences as Americana fare, but at over six minutes dissolves into a trance inducer of roiling drums and snaky, overdriven guitars and bass. Everything is on stun. Van Cleave's Fender Rhodes is the only thing binding it to the earth. At first, "Blood & Sand/Milk & Endless Waters" sounds like a cyclic return to "This Is Where It Falls Apart," but its fuzzed-out rolling thunder brings in the heaviness of "El Centro" too. The jam comes into its own when layers of fiddle and silvery blues guitar ripple forth before Staebler's fat, grooving drums help rock it to a close. Dying Surfer Meets His Maker showcases All Them Witches in complete control of their songwriting, arranging, producing, and performing. Slow-burning albums that provide this much weight, creativity, surprise, and enduring pleasure are rare.
********************
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Thom Jurek
Gris-Gris
All Them Witches are a neo-psychedelic, dark blues quartet from Nashville. They unapologetically use the music of earlier eras to forge a loose, spacy, hard rock sound of their own. While it is easy to pick out influences -- including Blue Cheer, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Mountain, Gris-Gris and Sun, Moon & Herbs-era Dr. John, and the electric Delta swamp blues of Junior Kimbrough -- it is much more difficult to pin them down due to a unique meld of crafted songwriting and spacious grooves.
Fronted by bassist Charles Michael Parks, Jr., the lineup is rounded out by drummer Robby Staebler, guitarist Ben McLeod, and Allan Van Cleave on Fender Rhodes, organ, and other instruments. Parks met Staebler while they were working at "a corporate hippie store." Staebler gave him some music he had been writing and playing with McLeod; it inspired Parks to jam with them. Staebler's pal, keyboardist Van Cleave, was also invited and All Them Witches were born.
Our Mother Electricity
The bandmembers credit the group's birthdate as January 6, 2012. Almost immediately they began recording. Their debut album, Our Mother Electricity, was the first release on Germany's Elektrohasch by an American band. The band immediately set to work on a follow-up, issuing the EP Extra Pleasant, recorded with two microphones direct to a cassette recorder. They began a grueling touring schedule and garnered a multitude of fans, who were encouraged to record and trade concert tapes with one another. Lightning at the Door was quietly self-released through the quartet's Bandcamp page in early 2014, and later marketed by Tone Tree Music. All Them Witches received international critical attention for this recording, all the while continuing to tour. Their profile increased during a series of dates with doom rockers Windhand.
Dying Surfer Meets His Maker
All Them Witches signed to New West in early 2015. They played to intense fanfare at music festivals such as SXSW and Bonnaroo. The label licensed Lightning at the Door for reissue. The band recorded its third album in Pigeon Forge, in eastern Tennessee. They set up a studio in a remote cabin where they lived and worked, and finished the album in six days. Dying Surfer Meets His Maker was released at the end of October in 2015.
********************
WEBSITE
********************
TO THE TOP
********************