The Brimstone Solar Radiation Band
The Brimstone Solar Radiation Band
Big Dipper
Much like their name would seem to indicate, The Brimstone Solar Radiation Band is a trip, the type of which any number of long-forgotten ’60s garage rock outfits would have spat a listener out into in a communal haze. Kicking things off with socialist invectives, “Wake Up” has the band railing against spending their “whole life earning minimum wage.” It’s set against an irresistible Steppenwolf groove and propulsive bongos, manifesting again on “The Flight Lieutenant.” Eschewing the standard Scandinavian garage rock’s aping of the Motor City, these Norwegians meld a pastoral feel to the guitar crunch and organ wail through organic flourishes from mandolin, sitar and clavinet. It would feel completely at ease on the soundtrack to Easy Rider, embodying that film’s dizzy unknown highway. Tempering things with touches of glam and psychedelica, the piano stomp on “New Solution” and experimental quasi-sci-fi intro to “Lenny,” respectively, puts the band’s feet solidly in genre expansion. The most modern equivalents to these guys are My Morning Jacket and Supergrass, both of whom have successfully transposed their favorite ’60s-isms into a fresh contemporary sound. We can add another name to that list.
Big Dipper Records: http://www.bigdipper.no
