High Castle “Spirit of the West” review
High Castle
High Castle
Shaggy – Drums/Vocals
Erin – Guitar/Vocals
Wilson – Bass/Vocals
High Castle hails from Oakland, CA and formed in 2007. They’re named after Sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick’s book “The Man in the High Castle” (which is a pretty cool reference if I do say so myself!) They had previously released an EP called “You’re on Your Own Way” and Spirit of the West is the trio’s first effort for Berkley, CA based label Zum.
8.20.11
Track List:
1. Swamp Thing
2. Innocence
3. We Were Lovers
4. Bee Metal
5. Crustaceans Demise
6. After God/Eat a Beast
7. Farewell to Limbs
8. Half Mass
9. Son of a Sinner
10. All Ages Nightmare
11. Super Gu
*review by Michael Bozzuto
Spirit of the West opens rather deceptively with pounding almost tribal drums for a full eight seconds before the vocals kick in; once they is when we really get into their sound: it’s lo-fi, it’s fuzzy, and they clearly don’t give a shit if you care. The aforementioned opener “Swamp Thing” is almost a bit Melvins-ish with the mix of drums and vocals in the beginning but quickly changes up to a creepier atmosphere with wailed, almost indistinguishable vocals.
One thing I can certainly say about High Castle, having never previously heard them before I sat down to write this review, is that you can’t really know what to expect content wise from song to song, the consistency lies in their production/sound. It’s always lo-fi, it’s always fuzzy, and there’s something very appealing about that approach to making a record. It allows the band to experiment with a variety of sounds (see: “We Were Lovers”, probably my favorite track from this record and one that almost has a refrain as the song is drawn together by one distinct riff that sort of transitions the different parts of the song.) I definitely think the fact that you don’t know what’s coming next adds a bit of charm to this record and certainly makes it seem like it’s one that bears repeat listening.
US TOUR DATES
September 2011
1 L.A. –The Smell
2 San Diego
3 Phoenix/Tempe
4 El Paso– TBA
5 Austin– TBA
6 New Orleans-TBA
7 Atlanta
8 Chapel Hill– TBA
9 Richmod VA
10 Baltimore
11 Brooklyn– Silent Barn
12 Brooklyn– Death By Audio
13 Philadelphia
14 Cleveland– Now That’s Class
15 Columbus
16 Cincinnati
17 Detroit/ Ann Arbor/chicago
18 Chicago–TBA
19 Milwaukee
20 Minneapolis– TBA
21 Iowa City– The Mill
22 St. Louis– Apop
23 Memphis
24 Hot Springs– The Exchange
25 Oklahoma City
26 Santa Fe
27 Flagstaff
28 Las Vegas
29 LA– TBA
30 LA– TBA
http://www.facebook.com/pages/High-Castle/10150105402945147
www.highcastle.tk
www.myspace.com/highcastleyayyay
highcastle.bandcamp.com
www.zumonline.com
About the Author
Denise Borders 39, Los Angeles. Denise founded PWV in 2008 and remains the primary manager and photographer/videographer. She is not secretly obsessed with Joey Cape.
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