More than a few times already since I have been doing music reviews here on Echoes and Dust, I have been introduced to music and groups that the rest of the cool kids forgot to tell me about. The latest group in this genre? White Hills, a blisteringly-good, earsplitting mix of all the best things in life, music-wise. Their mix of Stoner-psychedelia, techno-drone, and grungy rock is definitely exciting and interesting.
Once again, I find myself asking: ’Self, how in the effing heck did you not know about these guys?!?!’
Founders Dave W. (vox, guitar) and bassist Ego Sensation have been playing and recording their music for quite a long while, and have impressed such ‘cool makers’ as film director/producer/actor Jim Jarmusch and the venerable Julian Cope. White Hills have made an impression these folks for very good reasons: The music is spacy and stony, but you can also clearly feel and hear their emotion in it. That fact, the fact that feelings like frustrations are clearly communicated in the music, is often what propels bands to critical acclaim (at very least) and helps to transcend or bridge musical genres. White Hills’ music could be clinical, sterile and perfect, but the cynical, almost protest-song feeling on parts of ‘H-p1’ makes it very human and appealing.
[Author’s Note: I must apologize in advance for the next few sentences in which I compare White Hills to Hawkwind. Please do forgive me.]
There are quite a few aspects of White Hills’ music that hearkens back to The Mighty Hawkwind, especially the massive sonic wall that is characteristic of those pioneers; White Hills does have that in common with the granddaddies of Space Rock, but they have done so much more stylistically to branch off and add their own fingerprints to the basic underpinnings of the genre. The main thing that White Hills does is incorporate much more drone, fuzz, and harder-core industrial (think NIN and TOOL) in to the mix. Simple enough, it would seem, but I am not totally sure that a lot of other bands could pull it off the same way.
Since I am in the mood to be contrary, I will start my actual review with the title track, ‘H-p1’, which is the last, and longest, song on the album at over 17 minutes. This tune features Ego’s substantial bass skills prominently, as well as an echo-delay, cool loopy effect on the guitar. While the track is definitely repetitive, there is a distinct and almost disciplined or regimented flow to the structure of the music, while the voice is harsher and angrier; that blend of precise and emotional I was referring to before. At any rate, it’s a rocking song, and does not even seem like it is a Prog-length song.
My recent favorite (because all the songs are quality and my favorite has changed at least twice) is ‘Upon Arrival’, which has some killer drumming going on throughout to augment the bass and guitar. The guitar line on this track is catchy and metallic-hard, with some pretty fuzzed-up distortion. The guitar solo at the halfway point is not overly technical, but simply rips; I really like it. I think that this is the song with the most vocals in it, which is pretty cool. Dave W. is no operatic superstar, and definitely has a Lemmy-ish vibe at parts, but the vocals work and totally fit the feel. Even if they didn’t the music is interesting enough to forgive any vocal shortcomings. Vocals just are not a focus for White Hills, or so it seems, and they could pull off being an instrumental band without too much of a stretch.
Overall, this album is going down here and now as one of my favorites for 2011. I know that’s pretty bold, but even in this year of some really great releases, I can’t imagine that many more (or any) consistently cool and listenable albums are going to come along and supplant ‘H-p1’. I could be wrong, of course, but I think that White Hills and ‘H-p1’ have staying power and will stay in rotation on my playlist.
Maybe the coolest thing of all, aside from Echoes and Dust letting me blab on about this band that they introduced me to (Thanks DS!!!) is the fact that they are coming to my town in a couple of months, to a club where I will be within a few feet of the band. It’s going to be loud, and for this newly minted White Hills fan, it’s going to be memorable.
Released June 20 on Thrill Jockey
Posted by Jake
