Is this progressive rock? Maybe not. Is it progressive rock in the traditional sense? Absolutely not. However, this is progressive music. It's often noisy in a trippy way. It has a lot of psychedelic rock in it. It plays some intriguing games with contrasting elements. All of those things make this work really well, and make it worthy of inclusion under progressive rock as far as I'm concerned.
This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2017 Volume 2 at lulu.com/strangesound.
Track by Track Review
Dogleg Boy
The riff driving this at the start is so mean and classy. The cut has a trippy kind of sound that's part bluesy rock, part dream pop and part art rock. This is a noise drenched excursion, but it's also fairly mellow and accessible.
Lurch on Sister After the brilliance of the opener, this one pales a bit. Still, it's blend of bouncy rock and roll, alternative and noisy music works well. It's just not as intriguing or mind bending as the opening shot was.
Long Lost Boy Punk and alternative rock are merged with some Americana on this number. It's another that's solid, but not up the promise of the opener.
She Says / Come On Now, this is back on track. This cut has a real trippy kind of art rock meets Americana vibe to it. It starts fairly mellow, but eventually works to more rocking territory.
International Shortwave This has a really weird vibe to it. It's part Americana, but there is a dark, kind of dream oriented element at play here. That twist is what makes this progressive. Well, that and some of the overlayers of sound and noise. This is another that's very intriguing.
Shovel and a Pickaxe There is a heavy helping of distortion on this slow moving piece. This has plenty of Americana built into it, along with psychedelia and trippy sounds. It's intriguing, but not one of my favorites here.
Mandolins and Gasoline This slow moving number is drenched in noise and has a cool usage of multiple voices.
Low Over Cheyenne A bit of an old school blues vibe permeates this in some ways. Yet Americana and trippy sounds are the dominant things. This is slow moving and works really well. It's one of the highlights of the set and gets proggier later.
She's a Runner This folk based kind of piece feels like something Neil Young might do. Personally, I think that style is beneath the rest of the stuff here, and so is this song. If there's one to skip, this is it.
Rocks in Little Crevices Blues, folk and trippy weirdness combine here. This isn't far removed from the last tune in some ways, but it's much more interesting and effective. This cut gets a parental advisory.
