Review: Stupid Cosmonaut - Algol

These are exciting times for Brighton's Drone Rock Records. Following hot on the heels of the superb Earthling Society album 'Zen Bastard' comes this, the first 'label' release for Stupid Cosmonaut. Keen-eyed readers will recognise that name as I have already had the pleasure of reviewing two of their previous releases ('Astral Transmissions' and 'Abstract Concepts'). The band have recently expanded to become a four piece with Andy Hunt (drums) and Mark Hawnt (synths) joining Steve McNamara (synths, bass) and Sam Read (synths, guitar). 'Algol', however, eschews some of the band's former experimental musings in favour of a kosmische based travelogue space travel and it is an absolute beauty of an album.

'Solitary Stasis' starts with a spoken word sample - one of the aspects that made 'Astral Transmissions' such an evocative experience - under which lay some sublime kosmische synths. The band have long taken sci-fi and all things cosmic as an influence and this is beautifully shown through the music here - rich swathes of synths which conjure up the spirit of Schulze, Froese and Schnitztler etc. The sedate melody is gradually undermined as the track progresses by the encroaching sound of static and electricity...a great start to any album. 'The Demon Star Pilot' is the longest track on the album at seventeen minutes and is, frankly, sublime. Taking space travel as an influence once more, the track adopts a more drone-based approach that is both menacing and meditative. The oscillating drones are dark and deep, like the emptiness of space. Again, the work of Klaus Schulze is brought to mind. Little bursts of electronica echo throughout the cavernous emptiness and augment the drones to create an atmosphere that is less melancholic and more based on the loneliness of a solitary space traveller. As the track progresses drums and more melodic synth lines are added and the mood changes from the earlier despair to one of thought provoking exploration. This has the sound and the feel of some of the great kosmische produced in Germany in the 1970s...the same sounds that sounded like genius then and sound pretty damn close now! The introduction of guitar morphs the track once again..it injects a modicum of urgency that, not while upping the tempo, certainly ups the intensity. 'Passing Between Dancing Giants' opens with some more stellar electronica that reverberate across the emptiness of space and the drones yet again create an atmosphere that borders on dread. The shimmering of cymbals and thudding of drums adds to rather than interrupts this atmosphere. It has a distinct soundtrack vibe going on in places, especially when a synth is introduced playing a refrain straight from a seventies horror flick....this track is excellent...the atmospheres are rich and evocative and the instrumentation pitched perfectly to form a cosmically charged beauty. 'Barus' is a different beast altogether! Following a long introduction of more sublime cosmic ambience some crushing guitar crashes into the track...heavy and absolutely drenched in fuzz and attitude and sounding a bit like T-Rex playing doom. This is certainly different from anything that Stupid Cosmonaut have put out before but it is bloody excellent. Between the bursts of monolithic riffs are flashes of more delicate but no less effective psych guitar and it all comes together to form a track with a real chiaroscuro vibe - the darkness of the heavy-as-lead riffs balanced beautifully by the lightness of touch with the psych based guitar. This is a cracker of a track and if this is indicative of the direction that the band are taking then yes please!

'Algol' marks another stage in the evolution of Stupid Cosmonaut..where the earlier material had more of an experimental edge this is rooted in the legacy of the kosmische/krautrock pioneers, and more than does them justice. The expansion of the band to a four piece certainly seems to have added another dimension, another dynamic to the already highly inventive Stupid Cosmonaut process. It is, in short, an absolute beauty - rich in atmosphere and the ability to conjure heavenly vision and yet with a gravitas that makes this an album to be taken seriously. It's very gratifying to see a band grow and develop and especially in conjunction with a label that just goes from strength . 'Algol' is available from the Drone Rock webstore here. It will be a very limited run of just 250 copies pressed onto black and grey side a/side b coloured effect vinyl to match the hand drawn pencil drawings of the cover art by band-member Steven McNamara.