Day seven hundred of being snowed in, well, not so much snowed in as iced in, since the Indy Department of Public Works refuses to salt in Broad Ripple. Hair-splitting aside, I do genuinely feel like I’m starting to lose my mind. The cabin fever is setting in. It’s been nearly a week since I’ve had a face-to-face conversation with another person, and as thrilling as they are, my talks with my cats just can’t fill that gap much longer. I need something to steady my mind, something to hone its edge before it starts slashing inward. Enter Kula Shaker’s new album “Wormslayer,” which I just so happen to have an advance copy of. I have been spinning this one all week long. It’s the only thing that can break up the silence and keep me hooked, focusing on it instead of how bad I want to go outside and commit a felony or two. I know this album inside and out, right-side up and upside down; I know my rider if I see her in the dark. So, let’s kick my looming nervous breakdown down the road a piece and pick “Wormslayer” apart.
“Wormslayer” is the seventh studio album from rock icons Kula Shaker, you know Kula Shaker; they’ve been around longer than I have. If you don’t know them, then you’re about to find out. Kula Shaker dropped their first album, “K,” in ‘96. It immediately cemented the band in psychedelic folklore. It hit number one on the UK charts, 200 on the Billboard 200, and sold over 100,000 copies in its first week. You can’t have a talk about psychedelic rock without talking about these guys; it’s like trying to talk about southern rock and not mentioning the Black Crowes. They went on to put out one more album in ‘99, then disappeared for a while. They returned in 2010 with a new LP, “Pilgrims Progress.” This marked a new era for Kula Shaker. Their original lineup was put back together, which ignited a hot streak of creative output, giving up now four albums in the last decade alone, the most recent of which being “Wormslayer.” So now that you understand some of the mythos we’re dealing with and have a general idea of why this new record is such a huge deal, you must be wondering, how is the album?
“Wormslayer” is not screwing around. This is hardcore psychedelic rock. There are many, many, MANY bands in the psych scene today who are writing disheveled crap and using the psychedelic label to try to excuse it. For every Kula Shaker, there are a dozen other groups that are in desperate need of a crash course in music theory. Here, however, we have a blueprint for how to make a stunning psychedelic rock album. You have the keys, the guitars, the drums, the strange bleeps and bloops, the lyrics, and it all fits together exactly as it should. When there is a shift from a fast song to a slow song, it feels natural, like you’re getting a break from a musical sprint, not sudden like you’re tumbling to a stop after being thrown out of a moving car. When the instrumental goes from a harmonious chorus to a palpitating solo, you feel moved by the music, not dragged along. This album, releasing in January, sets a harrowing precedent for the rest of the year. How are other bands supposed to compare? Several tracks stuck out to me, and as much as I’d like to talk about them all, I don’t think my editor would be super stoked if I submitted a four-thousand-word piece. So, we’ll just cover a few of my favorites.
We’re going to start at the start with the album’s opening track, “Lucky Number.” Obviously, this one jumps out at you because it’s the opener. When it comes on, you feel like a kid in a candy shop, or like a Dusty in a twenty-four-hour convenience store; you don’t know exactly what you’re getting into; all you know is it’s going to be good. It starts off with a sort of garage rock sound, gravelly guitars, and a pounding beat reminiscent of the rhythmic slamming of my fist against the front end of my ride after I slip another bolt and skin my knuckles. Then something else comes in. The faintest growl of a keyboard in the very back makes the song come alive. It gives it a hard rock edge like the kind of proto-metal you would hear Deep Purple playing in the ‘70s. It pumps you up, it gets your heart racing, it’s the perfect first song.
My next pick has to be “Little Darling.” Now this is a slower tune, and you may think that it’s strange for me to call it out. After all, how often do I talk about a slow song? Almost never. It’s just not my style. But Kula Shaker found my weak spot, and so they were able to draw me in. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I’m a slut for palm muting. Beyond my favorite strumming trick, “Little Darling” is replete with tinkling keys, sickly sweet vocals, and a wonderfully filtered guitar that gives way to a showstopper of a solo about three minutes in. The song may start off tame, but don’t be fooled, this one is an undercover killer.
The last tune we’re going over today has to be the title track, “Wormslayer.” This song is a seven-and-a-half-minute rock opera on par with the likes of “Tommy” and “Cygnus X-1 Book II.” How do I go about reviewing something like this? It’s not so much a song as it is an experience. It’s a trip, man, and the only way to know what I mean is to take the ride for yourself. It’s explosive, it’s mind-melting, it’s in-your-face psychedelic rock with an undertone of ravenous hard rock a la Rainbow. “Wormslayer” is everything, the total package. Going forward, when someone asks for an example of a psychedelic rock song, this is the one I will play for them. Nothing in modern history has encapsulated the genre so well.
“Wormslayer” is a knockout album; it honestly may be Kula Shaker's best yet. It’s psychedelic rock at its purest. I have a suspicion that if you listen to this during the mounting come-up that follows a particularly heroic dose of ayahuasca, it would bring you to tears. It's a party, a good time; a sure trick to catch an effervescent buzz like the one you get while sharing a couple drinks with the homies around the charred-out remains of an immigration patrol cruiser. Keep your King Gizzards and your Ekoostik Hookahs. Kula Shaker dwarfs them all. You’ll find “Wormslayer” streaming everywhere January 30th. I recommend blocking off two hours of your day to sit with it and really feel the record out. This one will be joining “American Beauty” and “Disreali Gears” in the psychedelic canon soon enough. Best to figure out what everyone is going to be talking about now.
