MIND MINERALS

1. "Untimely" (1:37) like entering a car wash--waves of heavily treated guitar sounds washing over the listener, getting him/her ready--initiating him or her for that which follows. (3/5)

2. "Electrified Sky" (8:30) with a steady, simple rock rhythm section, this one feels like a Ted Nugent song. As the pattern continues, is prolonged, it begins to feel drone-like, mesmerizing, like a sleepy Indian's pow-wow beat. Second guitar and synths join in but the rhythm track is nearly driving me out of my mind. ("Six more minutes of this crap!" my mind is screaming.) The entry of slide guitars diverts and distracts for a while until that, too, becomes boring. Not a song professional musicians should be proud of--certainly not proud enough to include on an album for public consumption! Truly disappointing. (6/10)

3. "The Lighthouse" (3:56) ambient psychedelic electric guitar(s). Nice. No wonder the Bandcamp sampler has the listener go straight to this song (while skipping the first two turds). Very pleasant, peaceful, even melodic. (8.75/10)

4. "Eternal Returns" (7:01) nice power jam displaying creative guitar play over the steady skills of the rhythm section (bass & drums). Nice groove. Nice guitar play. (9/10)

5. "Snow Moon" (10:17) somewhat ambient track based upon one ten-minute sustained synth chord over which bass drum, bass synth, multiple synth notes and washes, and bass guitar add their oft-panning, slowly evolving sound inputs. It is, in fact, the bass guitar that offers the most interesting contributions throughout as the player offers staccato horn-like riffs from the instrument's upper registers. (8.75/10)

6. "A Basketful Of Trumpets" (7:41) steady drum and bass pattern over which guitar offers a muted, sedated melody similar to that of Jimi Hendrix's "Hey Joe." Eventually, the song gels into a form that sounds like a revised, instrumental, WEST INDIAN GIRL version of PORCUPINE TREE's "Dark Matter." (9/10)

7. "Sea Legs" (8:34) drone like in its foundation, a bit Zeuhlish, but, ultimately, pure psychedelic stoner rock. My favorite part is at 4:40 when the second guitar enters and begins to make it's fiendishly malevolent presence known. Very cool! (9/10)

8. "Way Back When" (5:07) sounds like two--or three--guitars just sittin' by the fire jamming--sometimes in synch, sometimes drifting each off into their own worlds. Okay, nothing new, important or exciting here--until the cut out. (7/10)

9. "Climbing The Ladder" (4:16) pulsing two note bass and muffled bass tom carry forward the pacing of this song as heavily echoed guitar plays its own melodic pattern. Bass is actually the most prominent instrument throughout this one. Again, experimental but nothing too new, important, or exciting. Even the melodies are lacking any hooks. (7.5/10)

10. "Atmospheric River" (13:08) opens like a Harold Budd-Robin Guthrie "Moon & the Melodies" collaboration, very ambient and yet shoegaze, electric. The use of static sound as a rhythmic "click track" gets a little annoying and the guitar work could have gotten a little more dynamic and exciting, but overall it's an enjoyable listening experience. (8.75/10)

11. "Psychoticedelicosis" (6:26) bursts forth as if faded into the middle of a much longer jam, painfully slow drums and pulsing two-note bass provide the foundation for this two guitar jam--two heavily distorted, sky-scratching ("Purple Haze") guitars. At 2:20 a third guitar (and then fourth) are added alternating leads of squealing wah- shredding. The four guitars in the forefront are pretty cool but the rhythm pattern feels too stilted, too confining, and too insipid. (8/10)

3.5 stars; a nice contribution to prog world, especially to the stoner rock/psychedelia subgenres.

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