Old Blood – Old Blood (LP)
Released August 27, 2016
DHU Records
Track Listing:
- Wolves – 05:49
- Glowplug – 07:44
- Silk Road Rash – 06:21
- Taking Refuge With Strangers – 07:00
- Flesh – 05:25
- Some Songs Sound The Same – 06:29
In brief:
Having learned of Old Blood’s existence and savored my first sip of their heady acid doom only on the eve of this, their debut release, I must say I am thoroughly intoxicated; downright legless in their psych-rock sway. The multi-faceted sound presented by the band on this desert jewel of a record is one which I will be indulging in for many years to come.
In depth:
California’s Old Blood, weirdos (by their own admission) who like to cut loose, describe themselves also as an acid doom circus.
Ladies and gentlemen: the circus has come to town and it is six tracks long and many light years wide. Except this is better than a circus. No animals are chained here, for one. In fact, nothing is chained here on Old Blood’s eponymous debut. This album speaks freely of an effortless freedom, both musically and lyrically, that one can not help but want to pack his or her bags and escape the mundane for moonlit desert highways; the howls of coyotes punctuating the space between bars, motels, their flickering neon signs and questionable but highly interesting clientele.
But that makes all this sound a little dirty, does it not? I mean, it is dirty – but in a good way. This is dirt you do not want to wash of. This is the glorification of dirt; of the taboos that are the hallmarks of truly living free. Dirty music with crystal clean production and instrumentation as sharp as the dress sense of Old Blood’s members.
Feather, Diesel, Gunner, Octopus and Stone, accompanied by their sidekicks The Rigomortettes, Cutter and Hoops respectively, are a band I feel I have seen live on stage thousands of times, well aware that they have not yet visited Scotland and I have not visited the US in several years. Perhaps it is because the music is so alive; the rhythm and beats lively and the layers of riff, harmony and flourishes numerous so oozing with life and creative juices that I feel it all so up close and personal.
The album opens with the tremendous Wolves, a song encapsulating much of what I have said already. A quick, sharp kiss of the drums and the groove comes billowing in like a sandstorm followed by a warm solo flirting with smokey bass sounds, groovy drums and keys that one would not be surprised to find on a release by The Doors. Indeed, “I could drink all day, I could if I would” must have the cosmic force that is Jim Morrison nodding in happy agreement from the starry, poetic beyond.
Do not let that rather loose comparison fool you though. Although the retro vibes flow here like Jack Daniels flows on the aforementioned front man’s birthday, if Old Blood are reiterating anything of music from days gone by it is barely audible. Their sound is so pulsating, raw and naturally glowing that it could have been born yesterday. It would be easy, come the second track Glowplug, to hear “let’s see where the rabbit hole goes” and think of Jefferson Airplane and Grace Slick’s dulcet tones – but I’m going to go ahead and say it: Feathers is better than Slick. That’s right. I said it (and she neither asked nor paid me to say it).
Dropping such frivolity in comparison (for all things are subjective, and no person is better than the other) we are carried along to the next track Silk Road Rash and are smitten by several more surprises this self-titled LP has to offer. From 04:20 to the 05:10 mark the track drops away to present the listener with an almost reggae vibe before spinning back beautifully for the closing minute of swirling guitars and orbital ambience.
Taking Refuge With Strangers opens with a lovely bass line and complimentary drums, slow and slightly distorted as Hammond-esque keys swell to the fore and the groove kicks in (we’re caught in the sway) and the riff takes us. Feathers beseeches us to show her devotion and (I can only speak for myself) I am thoroughly devoted to her and her fellow performers at this point. The band are showing us their world and it is difficult -nae, entirely undesirable- not to allow the pull of that world’s gravity to reel one in completely, even if it means burning up in the multi-layer atmosphere.
Intoxicated, we stumble head over heels into Flesh, a track which the band released prior to the album in order to wet thirsty lips. Within the context of the albums other five tracks, though, we are no longer parched. We have had a belly full and we are overflowing; desert springs spilling onto dry sand. We do not want this to end. This track contains an absolutely gorgeous solo from guitarist Gunner slipping in around the 03:05 mark and as it drops away again, revealing more clearly around 03:50 the rhythmic craft of Diesel and Octopus, combined with the keyboard skill of Stone, we are floating like bonfire sparks on a summer night’s air.
We arrive at the threshold of closing track Some Songs Sound The Same and I am sure, like me, many listeners will say to themselves at this point “sure – but not those performed by Old Blood.” The track begins with a few bars of almost acoustic notes and then comes the riff. Much of the track adheres to a pace befitting of the subject matter until 03:50 arrives and the pace quickens, the handling of the narrative juxtaposes, and the other side of the coin flip presents itself in full rock and roll glory.
And fade – but not because the band have burned out at this point. There is something deep in my gut telling me in no uncertain terms and with candor that Old Blood have the potential, the natural energy, to release classic album upon classic album over the years to come. They deal with both the rawness of human emotion and the playfulness of the human spirit and being in touch with these so perfectly and so astutely as they are, the well will not run dry. With this album they have not only struck a vein, they have blown open a whole chasm and have reveled an entire, shimmering lake below.
The water is inviting.
The verdict?
This blood may have run through old veins but it has been transfused to a new vibrant body that will surely roam for many years to come. Old Blood’s debut LP will set you free.
Disciple of the Void 