Grave Flowers Bongo Band

Grave Flowers Bongo Band

Strength Of Spring

Castle Face

Los Angeles’ Grave Flowers Bongo Band’s sophomore album Strength Of Spring is an inverted pyramid balanced on the headstock of an acoustic guitar, a rainbow painted in campfire smoke, an endless staircase circling into the clouds. That acoustic guitar, perfectly captured here by Ty Segall’s excellently sere and close mic’d production, plays skeleton to these conjurors woolly grooves, and singer Gabe Flores’ thousand-yard moan keeps the listener guessing as to exactly where this wildebeest is headed. He pinions these far out tunes, which burst generously with shit-hot guitar leads, Stoogeseque sax squalls, and a gaggle of great eight-armed drum fills, with a flinty wrist-flicking heartbeat as the band turns from whimsy to nimble riffery on a dime, following that pied-piper six-string jangling down many lovely rabbit-holes of melody and exploration. It’s obvious these guys play together a lot (the lineup shares two members with acclaimed space rockers Hoover III to boot) and the telepathy on display here is synapse-snappy. Coursing throughout is that note-pad filling, lighter raising, undefinable black magic that feels so rare these days.

Grave Flowers Bongo Band

Flower Pot

Permanent

***"Hey man, could you use a little serenity? GRAVE FLOWERS BONGO BAND thinks we could all use a little and they’re here to give it to us. In order to enjoy this record, you don’t have to get dressed. In fact, it’s probably better that you don’t. And you definitely don’t need to leave the house. This record is best experienced in the comforts of your own home, just as long as your home is as peaceful as it should be. If it’s not, Flower Pot should be enjoyed naturally. The organic vibes the Bongo Band project are just as soothing as they are psychedelic. There’s a lot going on here, but the record also feels very simplistic, like a more modern take on Ted Lucas, Sam Gopal, or Tyrannosaurus Rex. The journey is largely acoustic and serene, but the electric and slightly more chaotic moments compliment the rest of the instrumentation like honey on granola. Flower Pot is the perfect soundtrack for your next sacrificial effigy burning, but it’s also a record that you can make out to. It’ll ease you into the day or take you away after a long night. A perfect prescription for whatever ails you. I’m sure it’ll blow your mind, regardless of your mental state. Side note: It’d be a goddamn shame if the Bongo Band doesn’t turn into a cult, or at least develop a cult following." Edition of 150 copies packaged in hand-assembled, paste-on jackets.