Sierra – Pslip
Release: 28 January 2014
When Sierra’s Pslip slid across my desk I was immediately interested, not only because of the beautiful artwork or the intriguing name although that was a strong part of its charm. But because they’re a band signed to Kylesas‘ very own Retro Futurist Records. If you don’t know I love Kylesa, and band they deem worthy enough to sign I figured would tickle my fancy bits.
I was right. I was dead right.
What I heard on Sierra‘s Pslip has been rattling my mind like a protester rattles the government. There’s a strong southern influence on this record that I instantly feel a repose with, a oneness of musical taste, a kindred spirit embodied within a band. It was like the first time I heard Metallica, my soul knew it would be a lifelong love affair of cosmic riffage and a passion I couldn’t explain to anyone, sometimes not even myself.
I may be jaded hippie trying to find the connection with something he once thought he had and it sounds crazy, however, I truly feel that I’ve experienced this record in another life. And it isn’t a sense of familiarity sprouting from another record nor did it appear after several listens. From the first spin I felt this connection, as if the music was coming from my bones.
Enough of my spiritual talk, let’s talk about the tracks and band that make up Pslip.
Jason Taylor – Guitar/Vox, Robbie Carvalho – Bass, Ky Anto – DrumsSierra– they’re southern. They groove. They take you journey’s through amazing musicianship. It’s almost like a crossover of Down and Baroness.
The guitar work on “Control Folley” is simply beautiful. With an intro that is almost banjo-esque in its twang it then comes pounding at you like speeding Rhino in the heat of a Tanzanian summer. I love the raw way the vocals don’t exactly fit the way the music sits, they really stand out and speak for themselves. This rings true for vocals through all of Pslip, they have a gritty, attitude filled, enormity to them.
Psquigalogz. Now here’s an instrumental track of mind warping ingenuity. As you wait for the vocals to start, you’ll lose yourself in the winding rhythm of the music. As you travel through a parallel universe where Jimmy Hendrix, Merciful Fate and Black Sabbath attended an orgy and the children born from that orgy started a band, you’ll come to the nexus of time and riffage and you’ll gaze into that nexus hearing sweet music. Do you even need to ask what that music is?
Smoke Filled Room starts out like the soundtrack to the 1993 film Fire in the Sky. Hauntingly sweet with the promise of an adventure to come. I love this track. The riffs are huge and groovy and the use of dissonant chords is magic. The track comes full circle and it’s a beautiful thing.
This is a strong debut from a band I hope to have lifelong love affair with. If you love strong southern music with brains, balls, and unbelievable beauty, then order a copy of Sierra’s Pslip now.
~Rob Ryles, Journalist
MOST DEFINITELY FIVE OUT OF FIVE SKULLS!
