Spectre Folk

Spectre Folk

Vol. 4

Vampire Blues

“Spectre Folk’s latest Vol. 4 evokes history and journeys, both in leader / main songwriter Pete Nolan’s travelogues of places and experiences around the world, and in the band’s reverential nods to musical history / tips of the hat to psych-swirlers of the past. Their first full length since 2012’s Ancient Storm, Vol. 4 heaps more generous servings of layered, lavalamp-drip guitars, lethargic riffery and choogling sunstare moments both epic and subtle. Nolan, now relocated to South Carolina these days, still directs his song energy through and with a band of prime players: Aaron Mullan (Tall Firs / Hallogallo), Mark Ibold (Pavement / Dustdevils), Peter Meehan (Lucky Peach zine) and Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth), who despite geographic distance still churn out a cohesive and gorgeous collection of inventive and expansive sounds. “Begin the Mothership” creeps in with drifty vibe and imagery of the 13th Floor Elevators’ guitarist Tommy Hall in his trough days praying to a Mickey Mouse poster on acid in San Francisco, slowly giving way to an avalanche of cosmic guitars, while “Golden Gooj” revamps a more barren tune from an old Spectre CDR release into a watery raftride down a slow river with Michael Rother’s flanged electric guitar leading the way. The easier-going moments of Spectre Folk circa-2017 offer among the most colorful and rich highlights of this new outing. “Bremsstrahlung” evokes some delicate David Crosby guitar work adrift on a bed of hazy sunset drone, while Shelley’s propulsive drums lead the way through the heavier burners...

Spectre Folk

Ancient Storm

Vampire Blues

Tireless Michigan-bred multi-instrumentalist (and parent) Pete Nolan runs the Arbitrary Signs imprint, drums for Magik Markers and has written a children’s book and accompanying album—yet still has time and energy to lead Spectre Folk’s doleful, spiraling psychedelic drones. With drummer Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth), Aaron Mullan (Tall Firs) on bass and Peter Meehan on guitar, they churn out black seas of noise guitar, psych jams, no-fi experiments and other interplanetary gunk.  The follow-up to their The Blackest Medicine, Vol. 2 EP (Woodsist), Ancient Storm opens with a slow-burning ballad whose vibe is right out of If I Could Only Remember My Name, and ends with creepy heaviness that wouldn’t be out of place on a Jandek record. In between, layered, psychedelic guitar work and the occasional electrified vibraphone overlay a mix of beefed-up psych-rock muscle and a more stripped-down, guy-in-a-bedroom sound. Hard to believe a group this murky can swing this hard, but such is the nature of 21st Century astral projection.

Spectre Folk

Blackest Medicine Vol. 2

Woodsist

Pete Nolan was Spectre Folk before drumming and strumming in Magik Markers was his main gig, and will be Spectre Folk long after he shuffles off this mortal coil. The main benefit of ghost-folk is: you can play it way after you’re dead, and while you’re alive the Spectre can haunt any decent willing body with a gift for the unreal. This time around, fellow Michigander Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth) runs drums, Peter Meehan (The Grey Lady) glues guitar and Aaron Mullan (Tall Firs) slithers bass, creating an alchemy the Spectre hasn’t floated since the days of basement wig-wearing in the short-lived Norman Bates era. The band entered Echo Canyon West with the intention of recording a 7-inch of the up-tempo version of “The Blackest Medicine,” the title cut from the 2007 home-fi Woodsist debut. After several sessions, they emerged with a four-song studio collage monster that won’t fit in your locker and smells like smoked banana peels and undies blowing down an alleyway. A vibraphone, piano, and a plate reverb unit the size of a Brooklyn apartment were all employed by the Spectre like Uri Gellar used spoons—inappropriately, desperate and bent. They physically turned the two-inch reel of tape over so Meehan could put subliminal backwards masking under his Erkin-Koray-worthy guitar solo on “Fourth Dimension Refs,” and Nolan put the Temple Screamer to good use on tracks one and two, using samples of Shirley Temple Black’s “Good Ship Lollipop” as vocoder harmonies on choruses. Oh yeah, it’s full of...