The Telstar Sound Drone

Comedown

Written by: BV on 13/05/2013 16:14:26

Ah, Telstar Sound Drone. How I have longed for the day to come where they would finally release a full-length album. After having listened to their debut EP more times than I can count, it was with sky-high expectations and a childlike sense of anxiousness that I received the promo of their new full-length “Comedown” from the good people over at Bad Afro Records. My high expectations were justified and this album has already become a mainstay in my collection – read on to find out why:

With the grand and bombastic opening track “Through the Back of Your Head”, Telstar Sound Drone shows off their affinity for echo-laden vocals, jangling yet slightly fuzzy guitars, hypnotic bass lines and attention-demanding drumming. The hypnotic riff of “Through the Back of Your Head” has, in essence, compiled everything I have come to connect with Telstar Sound Drone in a single track. As the album progresses into what could be called ‘the hit’, namely the track “Sattellited”, the bass has taken on a slightly more forward role as the dynamics of the song are widely dependent on the hypnotic drumming and the enthralling rhythmic pattern of the bass lines. The echoing guitar parts are topping off the sound sporadically, as if they were but the sprinkles on a vastly psychedelic sundae.

While delving deeper into “Comedown”, I quickly realize that droning psychedelia is not the only thing present on this album. In tracks like “Now See How” Telstar Sound Drone shows off an affinity for mellow acoustic moments, coupled with delightfully noisy fuzz-guitars. The vocal work on this track is near non-existent as the vocals that are present, are so echo-drenched that they are barely audible, even less decipherable. In spite of this however, I can’t shake the feeling that this is slowly becoming one of my favorite tracks off the album because of the unbelievably chilled out vibe it is emanating.

The simplistic riff and the swirly, echoing vocals in “Lost Our Love” are yet another focus point for me on this album, as Telstar Sound Drone seem to have honed their skills and have finally lived up to the massive potential that was evident on their self-titled EP. This track is, for instance, quite psyched out but somehow the melody remains consistent and there is something resembling a verse/chorus/verse form present, that doesn’t throw off the not-so-seasoned listeners.

In other words, Telstar Sound Drone have created a vast-sounding, psychedelic journey of an album that pleases the seasoned psych-listeners as well as the new-comers that will inevitably jump aboard the rising tide of psych, as the genre is still on the rise and is gaining recognition across underground venues around the world. Telstar Sound Drone can be extremely proud of this album as it is, in my opinion, the best psych-album of 2013 so far – it was well worth the wait.

9

Download: Through the Back of Your Head, Feels Like a Ride, Cabin Fever
For The Fans Of: Dragontears, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, On Trial
Listen: facebook.com

Release Date 03.06.2013
Bad Afro Records

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