Review: Dreamtime - Dreamtime / Sun

Australia has produced some of my fave sounds over the years; J.G. 'Foetus' Thirlwell, The Scientists, Nick Cave (natch!), Lime Spiders and, more recently, Hotel Wrecking City Traders. Way up this list also sit Dreamtime, purveyors of trippy, heavy psychedelic meditations. 'Dreamtime' and 'Sun' were originally released on vinyl in Australia and, due to small runs, have become as rare as hen's teeth. However, thanks to the good people at Cardinal Fuzz and Captcha Records, they are about to get a well-deserved and well-overdue vinyl re-press.

'Dreamtime', originally released in 2011, is one of those albums that grabs you from the very first note. 'Bermuda' opens with a wave of soaring guitars, and things get even better. It is drenched in sixties attitude, from the surf/spy movie guitar to laconic vocals....and then it get really interesting. The guitar moves from twang to bang and the whole track becomes gloriously noisy. It's a hell of a track with which to open. 'Slag' starts with waves of echo and reverb underpinning some smooth vocals from Cat Maddin. The wah-wah on this track is sublime...flowing like silk out of the speaker only to be replaced by a solid wall of distortion and snatches of vocals, this time courtesy of Zac Anderson. As the track progresses it starts to form a more solid structure with Maddin's vocals, Tara Wardrop's drums and Anderson's guitar, all combining to brew a heady mix of fuzz and distortion. 'Gympie' is a sees the return of the surf twang guitar of 'Bermuda' but this time it is alongside some more wonderful wah-wah. A mid-tempo number but with atmosphere and texture in spades. Anderson's guitar playing is definitely the highlight here and surely, on this evidence, he must rank as one of the best axemen on the current scene. The vocals add to the vibe..Anderson in a more plaintive mood and Maddin's ethereal voice providing a subtle counterpoint. 'Robe' has a distinct eastern feel, the same vibe that many of the ace bands coming out Japan in the seventies had. It is a thoughtful number, melodies and delicacy replacing the waves of fuzz....until....about 5 minutes in the elegance is replaced by more coruscating wah-wah guitar. If any track typifies Dreamtime's (the band) approach it is this...the variety in styles, the willingness to take musical risks. 'Eve' closes the album, and is the longest track at over nine minutes. It begins as a nice, gentle psych number but soon morphs into a different beast. The melody is gradually replaced by dissonance and feedback before breaking down, signalling the start of some fabulous jamming; the bassline is insistent, the drums like clockwork and the guitars ringing like a clarion call in the dark until, by the end, we are firmly in acid rock territory...great stuff!

'Dreamtime' is an album of variety, imagination and no small amount of art..it showcases beautifully the willingness of the band to plow their own furrow and not follow 'accepted' lines. From the first to the last note it is packed with ideas, attitude and creativity...which leads nicely onto 'Sun'..



'Sun' is a beast of the same colour, but a different hue. It starts off with 'Centre Of Mind' which sounds like The Myrrors fronted by Jim Morrison, a slow-burning psych number with a sun-baked feel and some lovely, lilting guitar, and it's about as straightforward a song you'll get on this album. 'Baphomet' starts like a outback devotional; percussion and frankly spooky chanting over effects that sound like the gentle rain of a spring shower. This spiritual lead-in evolves into stabs of guitar and more strident, shamanic chanting-like vocals, the tempo rising all the time until it becomes a frenetic acid jam of mythic proportions....this is an awesome track that initially leads the listener down the dark alley of false security and then mugging them with sheer power and psychedelic chutzpah. 'The Road' is a salve to calm our bruised psyche after the onslaught of 'Baphomet'. Sweet vocals and hazy guitar combine to create a Carlton Melton-like oasis of meditative succour. 'Equivalence' extends this period of calm with washes of synth over a bassline and guitar. The keyboards generally have a melancholic eighties vibe about them but sometimes veer into seventies electronica. A beautiful track that takes the listener to places they didn't know existed. The title track,'Sun', is another that promises one thing but eventually delivers something different. It initially revisits the twang guitar of the first album which conjures up visions of an arid Arizona desert and more shamanic vocals just further this....I would compare it to The Myrrors circa 'Arena Negra' except that this album predates it by 2 years! As the track progresses (it is almost ten minutes long) the tempo picks up and things become, inch by inch, just that little more strident until the last half becomes a maelstrom of riffs and fuzz. 'Brujeria' has the feel of a spaghetti western set in the bazaars of Morocco...the exotic feel compounded by some tribalistic drums and even has some whistling that lends it a Morricone soundtrack feel. The album is rounded off with 'The Art Of Invisibility', very much the magnum opus at over thirteen minutes. An undulating trip with some lush drones and guitar starting things in a sedate manner. Gradually the drones become harsher and the disassociated vocals, dripping with dread and foreboding, herald the arrival of some keyboard effects straight out of Bowie's 'Berlin' period. Things become more and more frantic until, as though collapsed from exhaustion, the track reverts to some dark ambient a la Lustmord....dark, dense, mysterious and menacing....gradually musical elements fall away until a single drone plays the album out.

'Sun' sees the band experimenting more with textures, shapes and soundscapes and the result is a stunning album; rich, diverse and creative. It has taken ideas from the first album and run with them, taking them down twisting byways and highways. The depth of the creativity is quite astounding and it is all accomplished with craft and a genuine feel for the music. Much kudos must go to Cardinal Fuzz and Captcha for bringing these two albums by a unique group to people's attention, and affording the band new exposure to people who were unfortunate to have miseed these gems first time round. Essential purchases I would say!

Dreamtime’ and 'Sun' are available to pre-order from Cardinal Fuzz and Captcha Records now, and released on 11th March. 'Dreamtime' will be available with a heavyweight reflective mirror-board sleeve (with some fantastic artwork by Henry Bennett) and heavyweight pink vinyl, 'Sun' will be available with a purple/yellow vertigo swirl heavyweight vinyl in a 350g sleeve.