3.5 dried grams or Asphalt Flowers? Sometimes what’s the difference.
By Worlds (2019). A Review.
If you’re looking to find your self trapped at the inter dimensional crossroads of Haight-Gratiot look no further than Detroit’s own Asphalt Flowers. I had the pleasure of exploring the depths of tranquility of their debut album ‘By Worlds’ while embracing the holiest of days, Opening Day last night. There was no time to pay any mind to pitch counts, runners in scoring position or the long ball. The record took immediate hold as the games on the screen provided a mindless back drop to the insanity I was about to dive into.
I don’t know where to begin, it was immediately ran back as one listen wasn’t enough to comprehend the intricacies and layers that are juxtaposed across the album. It starts out with a poppy sounding bop, fun and uplifting. Something to make you feel like you are at a family fun concert in the sun in the middle of the day. Oh boy I thought to myself, is this going to set the tone for the whole album? Not a bad sound at all, but was there going to be 58 mins of carnival cavorting? The music quickly shut those thoughts down as it built into a Wharf Rat approved journey, but where most jam bands tend to fall short, the Flowers put on an absolute clinic, putting a little sauce on the noodles. Distancing themselves from the often hokey nature of any Grateful Dead or Phish wannabes. These cats have a sound of their own. By the time you roll into the second track, the dark side of the sixties creep up on you, giving you a Taste of what the Doors “The End” might sound like if JRR Tolkien was handling lyric duties.
Alive in Limbo is a short but sweet Groover that takes you straight into the heart of a dark alley in the rain. Sedative and seductive. Right into the ripper, Earth Shaker, a hearty plate of Detroit meat and potatoes. Channeling early Clutch, a monstrous driving force from the Rhythm section that solicits your undivided attention. The record keeps this thunder going on ‘This isn’t a dream’ keeping the funky grit alive as you can’t help but get stuck in a loop, alive and well, inducing a conscious, wide awake, and very aware sleep paralysis that isn’t trying to kill you, just help boost you over the edge into the ether.
By the time you get to the part of the trip that is ‘By Worlds’ you better be grounded, and ready to tackle the ensuing auditory psilocybin offensive the Flowers bring.
Picture this if you will, Eddie Hazel gets resurrected, kidnaps you and throws you into the passenger seat of John Bonham’s Hot Rod Model T from the Song Remains the Same and punches the gas directly into space, where you land in some Duncan Trussell, Pendleton Ward produced sensory deprivation car wash, slowly being pushed through the darkness, unsure of when the internal torment will subside. The erie realization that you are nothing but a speck in the cosmos, hoping to find something to latch onto letting you know this is just a ride until you are greeted by a group of droning Hare Krishnas that kick the car out of neutral, off the tracks, and into the sun filled desert. Snapping you back to a vast landscape of hope and peace embracing the light and love in the world. Bringing you to a high frequency levitation before floating you gently back down to earth. Enlightened, and baptized with all impurities and intrusive thoughts riddling your subconscious washed away As you skip with a shit eating grin towards ‘The Big Red Sun’ the album’s closer. The perfect comedown to the chaos that just racked your soul. A humbling delight.
These guys have a few albums available on Bandcamp, where you should waste no time paying for it. It’s cheaper than buying an ounce of Golden Teachers, and gives you a similar experience. They are also on Spotify and other streaming platforms. I’m not done diving into the catalog and if the studio work is any indication of what these cats bring to the stage? It won’t be a disappointment. I am anxious to catch them live and in the flesh. They have multilayered, textured compositions that will leave you exploring the sounds again and again searching for Easter eggs throughout. This won’t be last time you hear me yammer on about these guys. Make sure you get yourself familiar with them. Follow them on Bandcamp, Facebook, and Instagram.
https://asphaltflowers.bandcamp.com/?fbclid=PAAaYlfeL-be3RAvlVe0L4ECcHPV6fnTYaEu693oMD1sc_9I1Rr9Q7No0WSmo_aem_AZpXZvdVcSNvITJ1r8_DJTmTdg25o7xvviehpoVg7jzsRqTOObP1AMKQH2HEGr9t-Bc
https://www.facebook.com/AsphaltFlowersSound?mibextid=LQQJ4d
https://www.instagram.com/asphaltflowersband?igsh=cXFrZzdjeXQ0ejI0