Valley of Weights

A huge debut launches the catalog of Valley of Weights, the NY/MA collective that culls members from Sky Furrows, Burnt Hills, the Winterpills and Vatican Commandos. The band launches into a double LP that swerves neatly between German Progressive pulses, Cosmic American sunburn psych, Kosmiche, space-rock, and noise. The band splits their impulses, with the first half of the album leaning towards the staccato psychedelics — winding paranoid visions and anxiety dreams around frayed hooks that pull from the grease-fire fumes of Endless Boogie, The Groundhogs, and Edgar Broughton. They roll their rumble in the torn indie psych of Volcano Suns and Meat Puppets, creating an album that hovers between astral bloom and burnout.

The second LP finds the band pushing into more progressive territory, with two sidelong jammers that touch into 20 minute territory. With a winking title like “Ennio Was Right About Hawkwind,” even before the needle even hits the wax, there’s a feeling that we’re all in the right place. The band gives an idea of the live show here, expanding their sound into torrents of fuzz-sliced noise and body shook rhythms. Tension and patience pay off as the band erupt and erode on the last two tracks, presenting two visions of a band, both taut and exploratory. If you’re already familiar with a few of the folks involved here, the duality should come as no surprise, but if you’re just dipping into the Upstate NY / MA psychedelic crust then this is a good place to start.

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