Reviews: Cachemira, Sideburn, Lord Elephant, Cadence Noir (Reviews By Rich P, Erick Willand, Quinn Mattfeld & Finn O'Dell)

Cachemira - Ambos Mundos (Heavy Psych Sounds) [Rich P]

We get some more of that retro rocking psych with the latest from Cachemira, brought to us from powerhouse label Heavy Psych Sounds. This is the Rome, Italy band’s second release and is a combination of re-imagined older songs and some new ones written during the darkest days of the pandemic. With a mix of old and new songs you may think Ambos Mundos may not come off not as cohesive as a record of all new material, but that could not be further from the truth. This record rocks and brings us some of the best psych rock you will hear all year.

The first thing you notice on Ambos Mundos are the killer vocals from Claudia González, which is a huge and welcomed change from the first record. She brings a new dynamic to Cachemira, and her amazing and powerful voice takes the band to another level. Changing from male to female vocals may have been exactly what the band needed to realize their full potential and stand out amongst the throngs of bands exploring the retro psych thing. The other thing you notice right away is the vast improvement of the production of this record. It sounds amazing, especially compared to their debut. Combine that voice and the killer late 60s psych feel of the opening track, Don’t Look Back (To The Fire) and you know this is going to be a super heavy trip. Guitarist Gaston Lainé absolutely rips on this track and throughout Ambos Mundos. 

The energy continues on Keep An Eye On Me, which incorporates some sweet organ into this ripper of a track. Future’s Sight is more like a blast back to the past, say 1971, and once again highlights Gaston Lainé as a total psych shredder (and has some more organ). Dirty Roads may be my favorite track on the record and is just five minutes of absolute heavy psych ripping. Mujer Vudù, sung in her native Spanish, puts a spotlight on those amazing vocals that González brings to the table. The organ and the solo on Get Out (Turn Around) is just killer and will leave you breathless. The closer, Ambos Mundos, is like if Santana had an amazing female vocalist, and she and the band were all were all hopped up and awake for three days straight and decided to jam. Amazing stuff.

Cachemira have caught lightning in a bottle here. The change of vocalists, incorporating more organ, and the absolute amazing guitar work makes this a must listen for anyone who loves the retro rock/psych rock. This will be one of the psych records of the year. Check it out. 9/10

Sideburn: Fired Up (Massacre Records) [Erick Willand]

Have you ever seen one of those action movies that takes place in the States and the characters have to go to some dark neon soaked biker bar full of mean looking bearded dudes in matching vests? Sideburn is the band playing in that bar. A Swiss outfit once operating under the name Genocide with a more heavy sound up until the late 90’s when the name change came hand in hand with a stylistic change to a more hard rock filtered through AC/DC sound.

Album opener Feel The Heat is a short southern-touched rocker that makes me want a cheeseburger, at only 2:30 long it’s the perfect length for this style of BBQ rock too. Track 2, Free Ride feels like a song Jack Black would love and Sweet Obsession could be a good driving song but Just doesn’t really hit that spot…also all three songs mention fire, heat, or riding.

The next four tracks breeze by without incident or exception. It’s not that these songs are decent songs, they simply have no meat on them, there’s nothing for the mind to latch onto. Until track 8, Restless Call comes rolling in, it starts right off with a nice almost Ramones type groove and it’s the first time I’ve heard this band sound alive. Arguably the best song on the album and the only track that actually stuck with me.

Mystical Lady, Die A Million Times, and Paid My Dues play out as the previous half of the album and stick to the formula of background bar room music.. Album closer, track 12 is Tired Of The Road, only the second song that feels truly genuine with some real heart behind it. Hard to put my finger on it but that’s what I’ve got. So much of this album, for me, feels phoned in from the parking lot of a late stage AC/DC concert. Don’t get me wrong, the production is clean, the band can clearly play, Restless Call and Tired Of The Road prove that. 

In the end however, there’s just no real hook here, no heart. I guess if you feel a kinship with Gary Busey’s character from Silver Bullet then give this a spin and have fun at the pub. 4/10       

Lord Elephant - Cosmic Awakening (Heavy Psych Sounds Records) [Quinn Mattfeld]

It seems like a very specific kind of masochism to make instrumental doom metal. Afterall, this is the subgenre that brought you snarling cat memes with some form of the caption, “When they bring that nasty riff back… only slower.” We metalheads of the stoner and doom variety are functionally empty people who can only be made whole again by a very specific series of vibrations played at immoral volumes. 

We can’t tell you what it is, but like certain men of faith with pornography, we know it when we see it (or rather hear it.) Good instrumental music, like Jazz, is built on the virtuosity of variations. Good Doom Metal, like Sleep’s Stoner masterpiece Dopesmoker, is built on the virtuosity of repetition. Lord Elephant have chosen to make music that demands variety to be sustained, for an audience that would inject a 63 minute-long riff into their face if it were physically possible to do so… and somehow they succeed! The Italian trio manages a very delicate balance between keeping the listener on their toes through tempo changes and psychedelic, space solos and delivering exactly what the Baby Doomers came for: fuzzy, filthy, deeply unsanitary riffs… only slower! 

There are occasional moments they could tighten like somewhat uninspired melody toward the close of Hunters Of The Moon but it’s the kind of creative nadir that a band with a vocalist could steer you away from noticing. Again, these guys did not make it easy on themselves and that’s why the album is truly impressive. Highlights like Stellar Cloud lean toward bluesy space-prog while Secreternal closes the album out with that heavy-nasty detuned fuzz I want to wheel around in an IV drip. Special shout out to drummer Tommaso Urzino who puts on an absolute clinic in directing musical traffic through rhythm, tempo, and mood. Cosmic Awakening is a terrific debut for a band that has set a very high-bar for themselves. Come for the repetition. Stay for the variety. 7/10

Cadence Noir - Return Of The Electric Bin Bags (Self Released) [Finn O'Dell]

Self-described Gothic Folk’N’Rollers released their new EP on June 24, 2022. This is the first I have heard of them and it was quite interesting. This 5 piece from Nottingham demonstrates their ability to rock with a different overall feel (at least to me) with these 5 new songs. Statuesque opens the EP with sounds that remind me of the Dropkick Murphys, sort of. The Donkey And The Elephant intro has some nice bass licks. The fiddle in this song, sadly, just sounds like screeching noise that just throws things off. Black And Decker makes better use of the fiddle and sounds more like a fun Irish bar tune.

Something Something Nuclear War has a faster paced punk influenced sound. The EP closes with Washing Up, a fiddle laden ballad. The fiddle still sounds off or wobbly to me, but this may be the best song here. Emma Bennett, vocalist, demonstrates some raspy tone that suits the song well. Overall, this lacks the tight musicianship I am accustomed to listening to and it generally has a very unpolished sound. This may be good music to someone, but it isn't me. 3/10