published: 25 /
11 /
2015
Label:
Heavy Psych Sounds
Format: CD
Riff by riff Suffolk stoner rock band Old Man Lizard deliver perhaps the superior offering of its style this year
Review
I remember hearing these tracks a couple of years back in their original form on this Suffolk-based band's demo. It didn’t really hit me at the time. Maybe I didn’t give it enough plays, but eventually I saw them live a year or so later and then it all made sense. To hear the thing re-recorded with bonus tracks and having witnessed the band playing live several times since this first encounter has really bedded their music into my psych. It’s a blossoming love affair.
Singer/guitarist Jack Newham has a rather unique sound to both his voice and guitar tone. The guitar has a lazy feel but is always tight. It’s a natural feel this guy possesses that can’t be learned and what a gift it is.
Listening to the simple chugs on ‘Fawza Falih’ the whole thing could slip so easily into a heavy metal nightmare, but somehow it feels breezy and light before exploding into a monster of a song and it’s probably the least good thing on here. And as for his voice, when you hear it you would think you are listening to the giant bellowing to Jack as he climbs down the beanstalk. It is huge!
Yet it is when the band jam on great ideas like ‘Craniopagus Parasiticus’ that they are at their best. Seriously, it has the greatest ending to any song I have heard at all this year. This is not a hyperbolic statement, just a fact.
And so as this album plays out on my stereo for the umpteenth time this week I think to myself that there maybe time for another spin….
Track Listing:-
1
Cold Winter Blues
2
King Clone
3
Fawza Faith
4
El Doctor
5
Old Hag
6
Craniopagus Parasiticus
7
A Gruesome Mess
Band Links:-
https://www.facebook.com/oldmanlizard/
http://oldmanlizard.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/oldmanlizard
Label Links:-
http://www.heavypsychsounds.com/
https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOU
https://twitter.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUND
https://www.youtube.com/user/MonoStere
https://instagram.com/heavypsychsounds