THE ASSEMBLE HEAD IN SUNBURST SOUND

This was their first studio album which was self-released in 2005 debut, and was limited to 500 copies. They have since released three studio albums: Ekranoplan (2007), When Sweet Sleep Returned (2009), and Manzanita (2012).

Mars

This first track eases in slowly and seems to lure the listener into a dreamy sunburst dream. The sun is setting, the waves are slowly licking the shore, and the soft breeze is warm on your face. The dust kicks up and the sun is surrounded by a halo of orange and blue light. Yes, it is an early start for the evenings psychedelic space rock trip. But wait, suddenly the mood darkens and we leave the earth behind.

Scorpio Sun Queen

Since the last track left the listener in limbo, the Scorpio Sun Queen arises in the distance. It looks like we have a destination. Harking back to some flower power era or an element of Iron Butterfly with less intense keyboards. The track moves along at a slow to steady pace, a little repetitive but to be expected with this space rock genre. Wait! I do like it when a track picks up tempo and this one certainly does that. Mid-way through we double the tempo somewhat and now the song finally evolves into a crazy drenched fire circle with flashes and bangs and intoxicating warmth. Then as fast as it became upbeat we lavish back into the dream.

Creeping Spirits

A nice little taste of Rolling Stone-esqe riffs starts off this song. Again, the song is supposed to intoxicate, lure, and seduce, and a likeness to some early Hawkwind. The subtle distorted guitar and repeating bass lines, simple but sweet. Something you probably wouldn't want to play if you had a migraine, but non-the- less interesting enough to keep you listening. A shorter track this time you say to yourself as midway it comes to an abrupt end.

Taikonaut

Finally, a nice proggy part to Assemble Head here as the prior track meanders into some nice folky acoustic guitar, not unlike Led Zep but with more melancholy. This track was my favorite of the album so far, and only for the prog-folk aspect and feel of a change of pace and meaning.

Sunk Upon Green Sea/Storm and Stress

The track starts out as a kind of surfy grungy Beach Boys song Its almost as though someone had taken a Beach Boys song and laid a distorted guitar over it. Quite basic and monotonous however, just about enough in this track to keep me interested. A short track and id way we cast of any iota of the Beachy Boys and now are lost in space. The last part of this track suddenly changes course and melody. You can really hear how Assemble Head were in their early garage basement era of development as a band.

Kurtz's Shroud/Phantom Ramjet

Twangy guitars and a repeating guitar riff begin this nearly 7 minute escapade. A little Barret meets 13th Floor Elevators but well worth the wait as the final part of this song Phantom Ramjet is the most deserving of all the tracks on this debut album. We end this album with a lot of wah and distorted guitar and minimal vocals. I enjoyed getting to listen to this album.

Summary

I did enjoy this album although it is nowhere near as involved and developed as their latter releases. You could clearly hear the infancy of their early musical ideas but it was nice to hear and compare the budding growth of the band throughout all their releases. However, it was quite a basic album, not that much to really get my teeth into. It was a splattering of good ideas throughout and pretty well executed. The production was OK, again not as good as the albums they released subsequently.

This one is a solid 3 stars for me and that was mainly because of the deserving relationship this album had with creating the future sound of The Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound.

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