Review: Frozen Planet...1969 - From The Centre Of A Parallel Universe

We all like jam bands yeah? Whether it be the southern fried ramblings of The Dead or the visceral sonic blast of Electric Moon, there is something intensely satisfying about seeing a band of consummate musicians riffing around a theme, oblivious to all about them, concentrating purely on the music, man! If it's done well it is immersive and hypnotic...and these guys do it very well. Frozen Planet...1969 are the Attard bros from Oz stoner/psychedelic rockers Mother Mars (Frank - drums, Paul - guitars) and Lachlan Paine (bass) from fellow antipodeans Looking Glass who initially got together in 2012 for the first of many jam sessions. 'From The Centre Of A Parallel Universe' is the band's second release of the year following the well-received 'Electric Smokehouse' and if you are unacquainted with these guys then you are missing out....big time!

There just the five tracks on the album including the one minute opener 'Signals (Channelling....)' which is just a faint bubbling and an almost inaudible hum . It is when the second track drops that things get gnarly. 'Celestial Gambler' is eleven minutes of fluid psychedelic jamming that gladdens the heart....the guitar weeps and wails, wrapped deep in wah-wah and reverb, the bass is heavy and insistent and the drums hold everything together with some aplomb. There's no denying that it is 'retro'; it raises the ghosts of the late sixties / early seventies in its sound and vibes but that is no bad thing...on the contrary, in these days of every Tom, Dick and Harry bunging a bit of reverb on the guitar and calling it 'psychedelic' it is refreshing to hear something that is truly psychedelic, musically speaking...these guys are the real deal. 'Through Hell's Kaleidoscope, Parts I & II' continues the journey with some spacey guitar effects that sit just over a palpable hum of electricity. There is an ebb and flow to this track...the tempo rises and falls, matched by the intensity of the guitar but that layer of solid fuzz is present throughout. Compared to 'Celestial Gambler' it is a much more contemporary track..some clever guitar trickery adds a more space rock element to proceedings and the more abstract and less fluid structure imbues it with a 'now' vibe. There's also a jazzy feel to passages as well, hard to pin down....just floating around the peripheries like a voyeur. 'The Lady And The Archer' is surprisingly brief at just over four minutes and marks another change in the band's approach, this time more laid back and more song 'shaped'. It dispenses with the fuzz and the psychedelic pyrotechnics for a more blues vibe and acts as a peaceful prelude to the closing sonic attack of 'Ancient Wings Taking Flight' which is fourteen minutes of lysergic bliss and I use the word lysergic advisedly...this is like broken hallucination in the way it dips in and out of lucidity..passages of sublime guitar followed by passages of broken sounds..bubbling effects, short stabs of guitar and the tapping of a glass bottle neck vie for attention in a kind of free jazz structure..but without the jazz! But around this more freeform framework the guitar gently weaves some lovely psychedelic shapes that softens the track and makes it truly immersive. The last half of the track is taken up with some superb, chilled psych...the type that lulls you into a hypnagogic, trance-like state...pure beauty!

If I may return briefly to my opening statement....not everyone likes jam bands..some people are of the opinion that they are self-absorbed and self-obsessed and their output akin to musical masturbation. I suppose that is a charge that can be leveled at some (I will mention no names!) but definitely not Frozen Planet...1969, there's nothing self-absorbed about these guys..they are the epitome of what a jam band should be....gifted musicians who just love to play and improvise music, for the sake of the music, not because it makes them look good. I know I've mentioned it before but I have a lot of admiration for any band that can improvise on this level...mainly because I hardly know which way round to hold a guitar let alone have the chops to riff around a musical theme. What I'm rather verbosely trying to say is that 'From The Centre Of A Parallel Universe' is a brilliant album played by some technically spot-on musicians. It takes the tropes from some of the great psychedelic jam bands and re-arranges them to make something intensely trippy and truly satisfying. It has been released by Headspin Records and can be ordered via the Shiny Beast webstore. The vinyl (black or orange/black splatter) can also be ordered via the Pepper Shaker Bandcamp Page here as well as the download and CD version.