THE WINSTONS

The 2016 debut LP by this Italian band, The Winstons being clear-cut students of early Prog Rock. I had no expectations, and yet I did sort of take my time getting to listening to them for the first time (here)--took my time moreso than usual, that is. To describe this merely as "Canterbury Scene" is perhaps a tad misleading, but that does feel like their stylistic home base.

It all starts off spacy and ethereal on "Nicotine Freak"... Creepy use of an organ drone with beautiful group vocals and a far-off saxophone solos along. A wicked and satisfying groove lightly sets the track ablaze. I would say this does fit into a very broad category of Psychedelic revivalism of the last, say, 20 years or so. Great opener. Much more classic, early-70s Prog ideations on "Diprotodon". Largely organ-driven, but also just rhythmically steady, with the rolling and low bass alongside the simple drum patterns. Dark and well balanced, this track strikes me, mostly, as a sort of modern Artsy/Experimental Garage Rock. In the latter half, the feeling shifts to something reminiscent to the works of Didier Malherbe of Gong. Excellent reeds work! Very interesting stuff. Highly recommend this'n.

A shift in feeling further darkens to an early-KC vibe on "Play with the Rebels". Some of the clearer recorded vocals are here and... I just realized each member is slated as vocalist. Regardless, a great vocal performance. Low and slow, yet intriguing. What I would take to be the refrain is very much rooted in Psychedelic Baroque Pop of the late-60s. Excellent melodies and really very cool, lasting instrumentation. I was just listening to The Zombies, so my mind does actually go to them here. More classic late-60s feeling in the form of "Blue Jay Way"-esque organ and droning on "... On a Dark Cloud". Very effective mood-setting here. [Thus far, I was blown away by what I had been hearing. This is right up my alley.] I will say here, the bass-playing is less notable than any other component, feeling to me like a bit of an afterthought. The drums on the other hand are an excellent showcase of post-Ringo, (perfectly) sloppy tom-roll drag. The track builds steadily. I'm always impressed when a band can take a simple theme and, in the case of this song, ride it out for (the first four) minutes on end and keep it interesting. It is around this midpoint, where it slows and opens up, with Roberto D'Azzan's tasteful trumpet feature. And is this then "Arabesque" on the backend? Lovely stuff. Also, again, creepy. Well did.

"... On a Dark Cloud" falls away and "She's My Face" trills in from nothingness. There was something that reminded me of... Caravan? But also back to the sort of Zombies feel of "Play with the Rebels", with the simple rhythm section and organ matched with just as simple, super clear vocals. It psyches out in the mid, with a sort of optimistic circus-like lilt. On "A Reason for Goodbye", I suppose this is more the early works of Caravan or Soft Machine coming out clearest, if we're serious about the Canterbury idiom being represented here (and I would be). But also here, next to the beautiful, enchanting saxings, are almost Beach Boys-level group vocals. Nearing minute 2, the tune picks up. Heavier here and with more sax soloing as well as some jazzy Rhodes. It's this sort of blaze in the middle that reminded me of actually Canterbury contemporaries Syd Arthur [I recall being... frustrated(?) that they were immediately called "Canterbury Scene" when the nearest thing that tied them to it was their Psychedelic freakout/space-out sections... Still, good. I'm sure there's some Kentish in there, but they don't compare in this way to what The Winstons were able to accomplish and show off here.]

The Gong and early Soft Machine feel is back in fullest swing on the fun "Dancing in the Park with a Gun", which as it progresses turns rightfully sinister. I definitely had to look at the title of this track again haha. This middle section has a simple, but frightening intensity that's rather hard to explain. It's unnerving and yet almost a headbanger haha. Definitely a surer highlight. Fantastic. "Viaggio nel suono a tre dimensioni", funny enough, has a riff that straight up sounded like something by the aforementioned Syd Arthur. Very fun. This is a very straight-ahead number, with rolling rhythm section and big 'n' wide organ. It ends with some... wild dog barks! It then runs right into the vocal "cymbal hits" on "Tarmac"... a low and slow number with acoustic piano in what sounds like a vaulted room, with big reverberating chords. The vocals are in a higher register as earlier (yet not so specifically mentioned), reminiscent of Robert Wyatt. Seriously this is much like Wyatt's queer poetic stylings and verbal stressing. So, if you're a fan of his, this should do it for you.

"Tarmac" falls away to nothingness, and for what I can only describe as a fairly uncomfortable amount of time. So the start of the final track, "Number Number" to follow, feels very sudden. These gois sure do know what they're doing, in my estimation. This is a rolling Psych Pop number, with sort of jazzy keys over groovin' rhythm. Groovy, yet tense.

Overall, this debut is a solid showcase of modern Psyhedelic music, ultimately progressive, interest-holding and jazzy. I look forward to digging all the more now!