Five piece The Asteroid No 4 – once of Philly and now relocated to San Francisco have been conjuring this kind of cosmicness since the mid-Nineties. Over a period of eight albums, including a 2013 collaboration with psych royalty Peter Daltrey of 60’s acid prog act Kaleidoscope (who’s ’67 classic Tangerine Dream named that band), they’ve peddled a krautrocky, proggy, psych sound throughout. Unfashionable for many of those years, and always slightly overshadowed by Anton Newcombe’s Brian Jonestown Massacre, the timing is perfect this time. Krautrock’s re-emergence as a favoured sound is in turn leading to a slow re-acceptance of kraut’s much unloved cousin, prog rock, and this self-titled release has them excelling in such sounds.
Ranging from grimy Spaceman 3 influences (note their influence on their name) and stoner rock to Asian vibes and metronomic rhythms, “The River” even takes in Deep South country rock and The Beta Band’s baggy shuffle, with backwards guitar and sitar sounds. This ain’t Kasabian we’re talking about – a far more hippyish air pervades the whole affair. The grungy “Rukma Vimana” is driving psychedelic rock with quasi-mystical lyrics referencing a Sanskrit text about flying machines which will “Take you to places that you’ve never seen”, and “The Windmill of the Autumn Sky” is lovely, lilting country-tinged Americana, taking references from Gram Parsons and Fleet Foxes and encasing them in a smoky fragrant fog. It’s the least ‘out there’ track, but it nonetheless proves to be a highlight.
Their Americana and Asian influences are most apparent on the Rickenbacker and sitar-led “Ropeless Free Climber” – which manages to contemporise the raga rock of a late 60’s Byrds – and “Mount Maru”, a lysergic piece of 5am desert rock and wordless chants augmented by tabla, sitar and a spooked-out spoken word passage which indulges their passions of both Syd Barrett and a 1968 George Harrison to eerie, bummed out effect. It’s not all looking at the castles in your cortex or whatever – they operate just as effectively when they come across as snotty. The grinding riffs on “Back Of Uour Mind” (yes, really), give the album a much welcome kick of The Stooges‘ rock swagger, and “Revolution Prevail” is a welcome break from all things double denim led, sharp, oppressive and druggy.
Through dogged determination, The Asteroid No. 4 have continued down their particular path, managing to avoid being written off as revisionist. It’s encouraging that the success of the likes of Tame Impala and Ty Segall has led to precursors such as these also getting a look in guys have been doing it for so long now that they could, certainly on the evidence of this album, be cast as one of the originators of the new psych scene.
TRACKLIST
The River – 0:00
Rukma Vimana – 5:45
Ghost of Dos Erres – 12:33
The Windmill of the Autumn Sky – 16:49
Mount Meru – 22:54
Back of Your Mind – 26:37
Ropeless Free Climber – 31:09
Ode to Cosmo – 36:08
Revolution Prevail – 38:05
Yuba – 41:37
The Fat Angel Sings 