Grass – Grass

In the world of reissues, the long out of print gem is good, but a truly unearthed, unreleased treasure might be better. A remnant of the psych-folk aughts, which are now getting their own archival comb-thru (see: Kurt Weisman), Grass was a band that existed for a short, but potent moment in time. They burned bright, gigged little, recorded an album, and then squirreled it away for twenty years. Culling members from several of psych-folk’s most lauded names, the band brought together members of Feathers, Espers, Brightblack Morning Light, The Valerie Project, and Currituck Co. With a lineup that included dueling leads. dueling drummers, and a homemade electric gamelan, it was certainly one of the less precious lineups along the free folk frontier. The band began assembling their songs in dusty practices early in ‘06 in a Northern California barn, a location that encouraged improvisation, quite a bit of which can be heard in the album’s longer cuts, “Jamelan,” “Sleep,” and closer “6/6/06.” The album itself was recorded all throughout the remainder of 2006 at Greg Weeks’ Hexham Head studio in Philly, cut to 2” with the intention of release not long after.

Similarities to some of their parallel projects exist, with an acid burn in the strings that’s reminiscent of Weeks’ time in Espers and a quivering woodsiness that would befit Feathers. Though, Grass is never quite as fragile as their Vermont counterparts. Grass proves to be more akin to the shadows of the Scandinavian ‘70s, stretching out with a prog heart that’s more adventurous than some of their contemporaries at the time. Where quite a few were happy to fuzz over strums with a nod to Fairport, Grass dug deeper into the wilds. There’s a feeling that Pugh, Ragnarök, and Kebnekajse found their way alongside the band’s copies of Popul Vuh, pushing aside the fair lady lingering that found most in the sway of Vashti and Perhacs. As potent as the record is, it sat, languishing for years in Weeks’ archives until discussions about what to do with the album began anew in 2023 between Weeks and Kevin Barker. Sadly, just as the members got around to reviving the project, the tapes themselves began to deteriorate and a lengthy process of restoration began. Thankfully, the record was resuscitated, and it stands here once more, a reminder of the outer edges of the Aughts’ dive into the firelight of psychedelic folk. Had this been released at the time, it would have already been cemented among the best of the era, but even after falling into a 20 year black hole, it shines bright as ever thanks to Barker, mix engineers Brian McTear and Amy Morrissey, and the work of Spiritual Pajamas.

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