Spunflower

Often, West Coast musical offerings have come accompanied by soft breezes and a bucolic air that soaks the listener in warmth, but new stirrings out of Humboldt County find only foreboding tension and dread. Spunflower, a new outfit made up of members of White Manna and DDT, starts from a place of prog and psychedelic jazz, but the band dives further through the angst and unease of Jodorowsky and Jean Rollin scores, the outer edges of Heldon and the sci-fi scrape of Chrome. In preparation for the record, the band locked themselves away in a 120 year-old church dubbed The Old Steeple, dosed the minds and let the session take them on through three nights and four days. Seeking to tap into the deep cosmic vein that had haunted the Wümme studio-era of Faust or the Open Studio session of Turkish band Haza Vuzu, the band let the hands of fate drive their communal connection, emerging with a bedrock of synth and percussion. The band didn’t leave their beast to rest at that point, though. Further overdubs add Russ Thallheimer’s horns and Michael Dieter’s bass, transforming the final form into something stranger and more pungent.

The record is ripped on nocturnal energy. Edgy and hackled, the album stares over its shoulders with apprehension, forming attackers and antagonists out of every darkened corner. The first side draws the listener in, dire and damaged, full of wounded animal riffs and howling winds. But, as the band rolls towards the second side there’s a transformation, an influence of rhythm, a gathering confidence or, at least, a glowering resolve. The band brings the German Progressive spirit to bear on “Hy-Brasil,” and captivating closer “We Need A Ride.” The record is still stepped in its opening moments of darkness, but it’s less wounded and more wild. Slipping out in limited numbers between Cardinal Fuzz and Feeding Tube, don’t let this one pass you by. It’s one of the year’s dark horse contenders.

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