Saturday, August 15, 2020

White Hills : "This Time"






This is the 4th in sa series of eps the band has released since Bandcamp was waving artists fees due to covid. These are unreleased song the band has in their vaults, but since it is the first time we are hearing it I am going to count it as new. The first song is the live track "Dead" .  It is pretty bulldozingly heavy. While these guys are not a metal band I think they could appeal to metal head when they turn up the volume with songs like this. They are a great live band , but live recording some times just hit you with a dense booming and not a great deal of clarity , which kind of happens here to some extent. They go into a Jimi Hendrix influenced blend of pyschedelic rock heavy on jamming out the guitar solos. It is not devoid of modern touch as samples are uses as a narrative.

"Turn & Turn" has more of the simmering space rock coming to the surface which seems to be the direction the band is leaning more toward. Lyrically this is the most politcal song I have heard from them, though he is not pointing finger to either side of the party lines, which I appreciate. The vocals are more spoken and it is not the best song I have heard from them, though it is not that bad and better than the radio rock of today even though it wanders off into a noisy jam . Then they shift gears once again. "S.A.S'  is an "Over the Hills and Far Away" like instrumental. The guitars sound great here, though it feels more like an interlude to me than a song that stands on it's own two feet.

I will round this down to an 8.5 ,as it might be a solid EP, I do not think it is on the level of "Electronic Time". I think if you are a fan of the band this is a solid effort that you will want in your collection . I think personally "Electronic Time" has songs that are more likely to have staying power on my iPod. I am going to continue working my way back through these eps , so keep your eyes peeled for those reviews in the coming days.


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