November is Doom- Yawning Man : "Pavement Ends"

Often, the sub-genre of Desert Rock implies something less metallic and more akin to Queens of the Stone Age. Yawning Man tempers the doom melancholy with trippy atmosphere, but their new album opens with a darker shadow being cast over the California highways. Seeing how the song is called "Burito Power," I am not sure what was in the Burito that took such a turn, so the guitar melodies would cry out so woefully. They continue to drift off into melancholy with "Gestapo Pop," which carries a great reverb-drenched guitar tone. Without vocals, the guitar melodies carry the songs in a more post-rock manner that is not far removed from what Mogwai used to do. This also leads to things being carried into a narcotic drone that flows in an abstract jam. 

This affects the listening experience of the album and shifts the focus more to sound over songs by the time we get to "Bomba Negra." It rides a more atmospheric wave, as the guitar coasts over the bass line in a more Sabbath like fashion. The dreamy mood works well and adds a more dynamic feel to the album overall. Where it makes you want to float away, "Dust Suppression" is rooted in more conventional space jamming. Though it uses just as atmospheric of a guitar tone. They capture cool sound, but they do not flow with much direction. The title track uses a reverb that finds its echo ache with more emotion than was displayed on the previous song. 

The last song seems like it is the end bridge for the title track that precedes it, and the extended single note guitar solo seems to be the centerpiece of the song that takes all the melodic themes from the previous song, it works better live than it does on the album, unless you are really stoned, which is the target audience here. I will give this album a 9 for this reason, the moods and sounds captured here are immaculate, but the songwriting tends to work off a uniform formula to some extent.Out on Heavy Pysch Sounds Records.  

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