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This
is a great record. And in the methodical, stellar, emotional and
astral plane, Surya is to me as good as Om’s latest
Pilgrimage. It is also rougher, less detailed, choppier,
looser, more rustic, more excessive, fatter, and longer.
Surya drones spliff in hand and entrances in a deeper and
more monotonous fashion, but with that approach it also holds
you tighter to its bass-centric core. For the whole duration of
Surya, this New York quartet (that’s where they reside
but Queen Elephantine came together in Hong Kong) seems to
channel the post Sleep mantra of Al Cisneros and the guitar
tonalities of a pubescent Josh Homme. Of the first one they have
taken (some might say stolen, but this is good so fuck it) the
sense of jamming, the free flowing vibe that carries good stoner
doom outside of rock parameters, and from the latter they have
taken the exact tuning (especially during the solos) that made
of Kyuss’ such legends. Queen Elephantine have studied the
stuff, and as premeditated as Surya may be, the 5 songs
that comprise it are a plain lesson on how to bend two or three
notes into innumerable shapes.
Surya
is massive in all fronts; recorded in the land of Jackie Chan it
serves to its advantage that its lo fi qualities add a timeless
warm tone to the whole recording. Wise move, as that sound adds
to the band’s fat ass bottom. And it needs the weight as the
songs extend over ten, and in the case of “Bison” , the thirty
minutes. These tunes are at times insisting and moving at others
groovy and always psychedelic.
If they stay
together, Queen Elephantine might have a great future. Not sure
how old these guys are, but pictures on their MySpace present a
teenage looking quartet. And a generous one at that; while
they are recording their new album (Kailash) Queen
Elephantine is offering a two-song EP for free download at their
MySpace page. Yeah, it’s two songs and together they total over
forty minutes so no whining allowed.
Official Site
MySpace
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