Deadhorse

On Deadhorse, tape whispers and humming tubes spew howling guitars, swampy organ and ethereal vocals. Sonic fields are crushed into wormholes of re-imagined psychedelia, Nuggets-inspired garage rock and mind-warping jams akin to Hawkwind’s Space Ritual. While comparisons to early British metal can be made, this self-titled debut out of Calgary evokes the claustrophobia of a Canadian winter dreaming of sunny 60s’ Topanga Canyon.

Founding Deadhorse members Danny Vescarelli (guitar, vocals), Jennifer Crighton (vocals, harmonica), Eddie Dalrymple (guitar, vocals), Marie Sulkowski (organ, vocals) and their original rhythm section gathered in January of 2010, enlisting analogue wizard and producer Jay Crocker (Ghostkeeper, No More Shapes) to transform Danny and Jennifer’s Ramsay home into a studio. Over the next two weeks, sustained by streams of espresso, hashish, Lucky Lager and BBQed wild game, the group tracked live off the floor before adding additional vocals and mixing in Crocker’s Sea Legs recording shack.

Lift-off is achieved with the jangly opener “Interstellar Remedies” – lush vocal harmonies and flourishes recalling sunshine pop legend Curt Boettcher invite you to hop Deadhorse’ s converted freight train and snake through the cosmos. Making its first stop for the punchy “Glam Central,” Deadhorse is a heavy and often dark set of magic carpet rides and paranoid partyromps. “Cushion” and “I’m a Lawyer” shine as the band rides high on the “swagger and groove of early ’70s Neil Young and the drugged-out bombast of more modern psychedelia (think Sweden’s Dungen or Comets on Fire)” (FFWD Weekly). Following the blistering rock of “Upon a Mountain High” the album draws to a close; the tracks recede, and Deadhorse’s final drones are left echoing down a tunnel, destination unknown.