HIGH AND INSIDE

It is my turn to review the newest (2010) album from this North American band called ST 37, who have released several productions since the latter eighties, when they were formed. The title of this album is "High and Inside", featuring ten songs and a total time of 74 minutes. My knowledge about them is actually pretty limited, but I can say that this album sound different in comparison to the "Future Memories" compilation, which is the other one I know.

The record kicks off with "Maroons" which starts very slowly, in fact it was difficult to me to enjoy it at first, I felt it tedious, but after some listens I could get used to it, the last part of the song is actually pretty interesting. "Grandpa's Birthday" is an eleven-minute composition, which is actually an instrumental jam that leads you to a trip, but warning, you can either enjoy it or skip it, it depends on your mood and how tolerant you are regarding these kinds of jams. After minute six there is a short stop where all of a sudden the music ends and voices appear, don't really understand why they did it, but it does not sound that bad. Then it finishes and the music returns stronger, though minutes later it slows down and share a sense of tranquility.

"The White Comanche" returns to the eccentric psychedelic sound that I knew from ST 37, this is a short but fast song with hints of Hawkwind and some punk moments. "Borg 9" is a pretty weird song which offers an atmosphere of tension as background, while as foreground some male laughs appear repetitively. The piece slows down but arises seconds later, and maintains that tension for all the almost seven minutes it lasts.

"The Saga of Old Blue" is another weird track with weird vocals, but this time I did not really like it, for me the vocals don't add anything positive this time. "Breaking Lines" is a song I like, it starts softly with a bass (or guitar?) and then becomes rockier, following the same path during all the four minutes, though it may sound repetitive, I like it.

"The Burgeoning" is a five-minute addictive track with some repetitive noises that could actually despair you, but in my case it did not happen, actually I felt like in hypnosis. "Just You" is a much calmer song that in moments actually sound like a 70s ballad, it has nothing to do with the previously known ST 37 sound.

"Pamphlet of Light" shares other experimental atmosphere(s) that lead you to a cosmic trip, the guitar work is pretty accurate here because it gives the different textures and along with vocals, provoke dark and strange images. The last song is also the longest one, with sixteen minutes of music, "If you feel you are healed (cow head in the river)" offers a lot of spacey moments, with some rockier ones complemented by the predominant psychedelic sound. In some passages one can feel that nervous sound made by the organ, which puts a special flavor to the music. The song is instrumental in its entirety, and in my opinion it resumes the sound of ST 37. There is a hidden track here that completes those 16 minutes.

This is a nice album, though in a couple of songs I lost the track and did not feel that interested, however if you like this kind of experimental and psychedelic music you will like it. My final grade is three stars.

Enjoy it!

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