"cuz I'll go so far down, waay down..."
Philadelphia sludge psych rockers Slomo Sapiens have a new absolutely crushing piece of music in "Gills". A follow up to their 2021 semi-full length "Slömos Volume 1" and their 2020 full length "Cabin Fever Dreams", it is so super charged but dynamically charged as well. It runs at 100 miles an hour but will shift time sigs while dipping into psych rock breaks. It tosses away the quiet / loud aesthetic for the loud / louder one. They do artfully get more sparse at time, with screaming lead downbeats, feral tom tom beats and the absolutely delicious open build up centered around primarily lead guitar and drums to double leads is amazing. "Gills" is like a hurricane that move close to the quiet eye of the storm but not all the way before moving to the outer edges again. Utterly mosh worthy and surreptitiously complex, the barrage of sound is astounding. Garage rock tendencies but filtered through a mix of heavy metal, 70's psych rock, and surf rock. While this may seem kind of out there, while listening to "Gills" I thought of a diverse array of artists from Osees, Metz, Diarrhea Planet, Led Zeppelin, Gang of Four, and Death from Above 1979 (so there you go).
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
https://www.facebook.com/slomosapiens
https://slomosapiens.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/slomosapiens/
Like a bad 90’s rom-com, the story of Slomo Sapiens starts with a boy following a girl to the other side of the world. In this specific instance it starts with lead singer and guitarist Ceallaigh Manaaki following a girl from Australia (he’s from New Zealand though, do not get them mixed up) to Philadelphia. If you believe in horoscopes, ghosts, and fairy tales then you might think it was destiny that Ceallaigh was to meet Greg Geiger (bass) and Jon Pritchard (drums) within his first week in Philadelphia. Slomo Sapiens came thumping and crashing into existence the very next week.
Since then, Slomos succession has been swift and unforgiving. With WXPN’s Dan Reed labeling the boys as ‘Nice and Loud’ and XPN’s The Key claiming ‘Slomo Sapiens come across as more distorted, east coast version of Ty Segall’ the boys have gained themselves a reputation. After the release of their debut EP ‘Hot Milk,’ Slomo Sapiens have shared stages with Bass Drum of Death, Night Beats, and many other bands across the country on their ‘Ketchup Tour’ and in Vermont at ‘WAKING WINDOWS FESTIVAL’.
With the release of their debut album ‘Cabin Fever Dreams’ we saw Slomo Sapiens evolve from a three-eyed garage-goblin to a five-headed psych-serpent. Cabin Fever Dreams is a concept album about a character isolated and trapped in a cabin located on the border of ‘Sanity’ and ‘Lala land’. It explores deep in the uncharted back-woods of the mind and the causes and effects of losing one’s mind through the sounds of fuzzed out guitar, snarling vocals, and 60s psychedelia. In their latest release ‘Slömo Vol. 1’ the boys explore their heavier side through a journey into the dark arts. It highlights the abundance of talent in the Philly music scene with at least one guest appearance on each track.
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Slomo Sapiens, Philadelphia, garage rock, psych rock, slaker, sludge metal, surf punk, alt rock, indie rock, massive sound, "Gills", heavy metal, post punk,
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