Jason RocheMacedonian Lines (Heavy Psych Sounds)
If any band deserves to have a 1,000 think pieces written about their influence on an entire music scene, it’s Yawning Man. The desert generator parties spearheaded by the band in the mid ’80s are the lore of legends, as their free-form psychedelic-rock jam sessions under the stars would give birth to the Southern California desert rock scene that spawned bands such as Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age. If you have ever blazed up green stuff or ingested psychotropic materials and indulged in a spin of The Desert Sessions series of records, Yawning Man is where it all begins.
But today, we focus on the present instead of the past. Since finally beginning to release formal studio recordings in 2005, the group has continued to cement their bona fides with deeply textured and engrossing instrumental soundscapes that are heavy on chill hypnosis, at times bordering on the verge of modern post-rock while maintaining the vibes of the group’s desert roots. On Yawning Man’s newest record, Macedonian Lines, band co-founder Mario Lalli lays down rumbling bass that rivals Rush’s Geddy Lee in terms of sheer power, while fellow co-founder Gary Arce supplies a steady supply of hypnotic grooves on guitars and modern-era drummer Bill Stinson lays a rock-solid foundation for the jams that ensue.
Yawning Man’s Macedonian Lines will be released this Friday by Heavy Psych Sounds, but you can check out the full-album stream in advance today by clicking here. Preorder the album at heavypsychsounds.com.
(Heavy Psych Sounds)
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