ninehertz

I can't tell if Skloss are Austin based by way of Glasgow, or the other way round - either way, makes for a rich cultural blend; furthermore, before we dip into the music at hand, when you read the band's biography under the album on bandcamp, you couldn't make up a cooler couple of people - brief highlights of their non-musical experiences including filmmaker of Syd Barrett docs, former pro BMX rider, cinematographer, photographer and more. But we're here for the music, and lo and behold, it's equally cool. You can't help but smile at their talent.

They describe themselves as a "space-gaze duo", which is appetising. The music has something of a more structure driven Gnod, touching towards psych and stoner but that not describing it anything like appropriately. It is a revelation from the start - the title track opener is excellent, like a slight goth tinged proto doom band crossed with modern day Hey Colossus - a bizarre concoction perhaps, but it works wonderfully.

The intriguingly titled Imagine 100 Dads has this psychedelic drawl ever present, slacker sounds expertly harnessed, so when this becomes heavier and doomier it really hits home; I'm totally wrapped up in the album by this point. Mind Hive's abrasively loud production bolsters the boisterous noise rock party feel. It admittedly dips in a tad in terms of excitement the further the album goes, but even in the tracks that don't stand out, I'm left wondering - how do a duo make this much of a racket?

It closes with a final hurrah, Ghosts are Entertaining, the rampant trippy riffs and free noise like Colour Haze at their most outlandish, free of inhibitions and exuberant with it. And this is the overarching feeling towards Skloss by the time the album ends - they have conjured something quite special here, an album of depth and joy.