It should come as absolutely no surprise once seeing this band name that they bring a fragrant perfume of herby scents with them all the way from Cologne in Germany. This is the group’s debut album of psychedelic rock and stoner grooves and contains 6 tracks each with plenty of individuality but not breaking any mould of sounds heard over the last 4 decades or so. Timeless in a way with contemporary trimmings and great sound production but music you can comfortably identify within a first spin over its 6 heady tracks. What at first took me slightly by surprise is that 4 of these numbers are essentially instrumental while we are left with just 2 with the admirable vocal talents of Bjorn Bear. Now this could be a slight stumbling block as there seems a huge amount of instrumental jams around at the moment and there is no denying that Bjorn has a cracking vocal presence. Still whatever reasons they have chosen for doing things this way the instrumental work still engages well and is varied so I guess it’s a small complaint.

We start with the first of these ‘Solar Flares’ at a sedentary pace with meandering guitar work and slow beat of drums gradually building up. Energy injected, wah-wah pedal engaged, we get to the crux of the matter with some nice hazy licks and one sudden vocal harmony line proving 2 things. One this band can play and secondly, they can provide plenty of melody and keep the listener fully engaged. ‘Trippin Blues’ does just what it describes, boogies on down, flares shuffling to the beat and with Bjorn’s classic vocal take on things. This is bar blues rockin on down at the last gasp saloon and gets the feet tapping and the taste buds desperately hungering for a cold one as you sit on stool considering a whisky to knock back as a chaser. Short, sweet and energetic this definitely hits the mark as the retro Hammond organ sound sweeps suddenly in and gets the joint well and truly rocking. Instantly flowing into 10-minute ‘Ear Of The Universe’ it’s the harmonica that takes over, stridently yelling for your attention and providing another boost of energy. The Deep Purple parp of retro organ work naturally coasts away and the two instruments flirt with each other with a near sexual dance of enticement. It’s actually good enough to forget about lack of vocals, we were teased with them and have plenty to keep occupied here until later.

An American twang takes us down a different trail as ‘Sunrise In The Canyon’ again provides perfect description to the music. All that’s missing is a lonesome pine here as we are taken into strong Western motifs by the stand off of the music where this duel is only going to favour the local undertaker. From earth back to the skies above as we go in search of space with ‘Astronaut Of Love.’ The vocals are back and our prophet injects their innermost Jim Morrison into things on this Doorsy trip back in time sounding like a lost classic, well and truly breaking through to the other side. It’s left to ‘Astral Traveller’ to wrap things up and the crazy kids hit up that organ again and go into a kinetic frenzy designed to overload the central cortex and keep the listener rocking till the end.

So, an enjoyable listen from a band appreciating their musical roots and strongly going with them to present an album that aficionados should definitely dig. Good work, more vocals on the next one though please.

(8/10 Pete Woods)

https://www.facebook.com/SmokemasterPsychedelic