The trappings of psychedelic rock, particularly that of the stoner variety, are pretty easy to get down: tribal drums, echo effects, fuzzed guitars, apocalyptic religious lyrics. The trick is trying to craft songs out of this approach. You can bury a tune in as much distortion as you want, but if you're planning to sing over it and aren't going for freeform soundscapes like Sunn O))), you’re going to have to craft some verses, some choruses, and, yeah, some hooks.
Brooklyn band Weird Owl’s debut Ever the Silver Cord Be Loosed more than meets these minimum requirements. The drums thunder, while the lyrics obsess over the occult and mystic, repeatedly employing avian imagery (can you imagine if Wolf Parade or Fleet Foxes actually sang about being wolves and foxes?). The guitars rage, sometimes bent to resemble the tortured whine of pedal steel, more often overdriven and chugging, like prime Neil Young & Crazy Horse. In fact, the vocals also bring to mind Young’s singular yelp, cutting nasally and angularly through the mix.
And the songs? Well, they are mostly pretty good. Opener “Mind Mountain” trudges along, unfurling like an un-filmed Jorodowsky epic, metaphysical ramblings building up to an unexpected synth solo, only to have the guitars come charging back in. It’s exhilarating stuff, conjuring up images of some vast, cosmic desert. That these boys hail from the Big Apple doesn’t seem possible; they sound like their hearts and spaced-out heads are firmly planted in some mythic Southwest.
The best tracks marry unconventional sounds to the stoner rock template. “Skeletelepathic” features chiming clean guitars, and “In the Secrecy of Oceans” sounds like the Brian Jonestown Massacre given over to their most doom metal impulses. Elsewhere, however, the album doesn’t quite muster the same depth. Tracks like “Do What Th’Owl Wilt” and “Tobin’s Spirit Guide” are fine, but lack the same surprising nature of the album's best stuff, focusing instead on crunchy riffs and, in the case of the latter, some pretty ridiculous lyrics: "So, it’s tragic/ Everything I see/ It’s magic."
How much you enjoy Ever the Silver Cord Be Loosed depends entirely on how seriously you take it. As far as a truly rich, spiritually-minded psychedelic experience goes, it’s probably not your best bet for transcendentalism. Personally, I’m not really looking for a mind-altering trip. I’m content to dig some fun heavy rock, to bask in some serious Crazy Horse vibes, and to have a record that sounds really good cranked up on the stereo. With those standards in mind, this album will do you just fine.
1. Mind Mountains
2. Skeletelepathic
3. 13 Arrows, 13 Stars
4. Tobin's Spirit Guide
5. Do What Th'Owl Wilt
6. Phases Of The Moon
7. In The Secrecy Of Oceans
8. FLying Low Through The Air After Thunder
More about: Weird Owl
