Rose Windows

The Sun Dogs

Written by: BV on 01/08/2013 14:22:03

Rose Windows is the name of a band that I happen to have missed completely until a week ago, where a friend of mine ranted about them in such a fashion that it almost seemed like a crime not to know of this particular band. Dabbling in experimental psychedelia, Rose Windows is yet another band to ride the recent wave of neo-psych, anxious to get their share of attention on a growing, albeit still small scene. Hailing from Seattle, this septet classifies themselves as ‘hard hitting hippies’ that play ‘insufferable psychedelic garbage’. Following a description like that, I can deduce that the band clearly has humor on some level, but what about the music then?

Well, a track like “Native Dreams” is indeed characteristic for a bunch of hard hitting hippies as the abundance of eastern influences molds together with a blatantly heavy riff that, at times, borders the sheer power of stoner rock. As the organ swirls away and the vocals enter with a slightly dream-like quality to them, I am almost instantaneously reassured that this, this band right here, deserves at least some of the praise my friend hurled in my general direction.

The bluesy influence is hard to steer clear of when delving into psych-rock, but on “Walkin’ With A Woman”, Rose Windows seem to have harnessed a great deal of inspiration from early 70’s Pink Floyd tracks like “Cymbaline”, as the beautifully orchestrated track gradually works its way to a grand climax – fueled by one of the absolutely greatest guitar solos I have heard on an album released in the last 5 years. The haunting background vocals and the roomy atmosphere aids in establishing something reminiscent of a prog-rock feel to the track, thus completing one of the better Pink Floyd references I have been witness to in a while.

But Rose Windows are obviously not mere Floyd rip-offs - rather they seem to harness a great deal of wide-ranging inspirations on a multitude of greatly varied tracks on their debut album. For instance, the track “Indian Summer” bears a slight resemblance to both Jefferson Airplane as well as the recent psych-pop dudes in Foxygen. These beautifully ringing vocals and the simple, yet rich soundscape can be attributed to a good ear for psychedelic craftsmanship as well as, oddly enough, what would seem to be an underlying fondness for spaghetti westerns, as “Indian Summer” soon comes to remind me a great deal of Spindrift with their frequent use of slide guitar parts and “ah-ah-aaaaaah” choir.

Indeed, Rose Windows is one of those few cases where the hype created around them seems fairly justified and, to me, well-deserved. This debut album not only contains a fine selection of strong songs, but it also shows an underlying promise of something better to come. This debut album is fantastic to my ears, and I do think it’ll be hard for Rose Windows to create a suiting follow-up. I hope they’re up for the challenge though.

Download: Indian Summer, This Shroud, Native Dreams, Walkin’ With a Woman
For The Fans Of: Foxygen, 70’s Pink Floyd, Spindrift, The Black Angels
Listen: facebook.com

Release Date 25.06.2013
Sub Pop


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