The initial recordings for this mini album San Francisco’s Night Collectors started before Covid, back in 2020. Having released a couple of the tracks as a 7″ in 2022, they reconvened to complete the recording and have found perfect homes with Aagoo / Cardinal Fuzz for their own brand of delirious psychedelic drone rock.
Choosing to release a five-track 12″ gives some freedom to their sound and a sense of distant anticipation is echoed in the vocals. They like their guitars heavy and their riffs to circle as cymbals crash, but there is a dreaminess to their distance and there is a feeling, particularly on opening track “One Thousand Years”, that they are making their way slowly up a mountain, the guitar gradually winding tighter, preparing us for an incredible view.
There is a desert twang to the guitar on “Take Me Higher” and the distant echo of the bass is slowly warped by the intensity of the sun. It feels like outdoor music filled with the need to search that, although it is slow and relatively heavy, is not too dense. You can feel the wind in your hair and the kiss of the sun on your face as they exhort you to reach up high and the riffs spiral. The vocals have enough sense of wonder and the lyrics about searching and hoping suit the constant momentum. In “Heat And Fury”, the twin guitar attack is like two horses pursuing the same goal, one riding a ridge high above the other, but surging towards an unseen convergence.The narcotic reverb that they employ and the slower, obsessive hypnosis of “What Would I Do” takes some sting out with a pretty little riff hiding under the ooze; while closer “Transmissions” ups the volume, its distortion and crashing drums giving a real sense of intent like they are closing in on something. The cymbal strikes are huge and sound like bin lids being bashed in the street, and when the dam breaks and the guitar finally explodes it is like a catharsis, a squealing, screeching release as the juggernaut rolls us off the cliff.
The five tracks here are the perfect introduction to Night Collectors’ world; but let’s hope there isn’t such a wait for the follow-up.-Mr Olivetti-
