Carlton Melton - Smoke Drip (12" vinyl)

I’ve often thought it’d be handy to have a smoke drip. That way I wouldn’t have to wait until I was outside before getting high, I could just discreetly pipe some more into my arm while I was sitting here at the desk writing reviews. Eventually it might help facilitate my ultimate fantasy - a world in which I never have to do anything at all.

This record won’t do that for me, however. It’s just a record. But don’t let that put you off because Carlton Melton are dishing out three long tracks of their droney psychedelic chunter, which for the uninitiated falls somewhere between the free psych noodling of Sylvester Anfang II and the astral meditations of Barn Owl...with maybe a touch of Nadja or Thisquietarmy for good measure.

I could swear the previous tunes of theirs I’ve heard have had a little more direction and variety and riffs, but instead this record takes you out into the far cosmic reaches of psychedelic rock, where there is no riff and there is no tune, only texture and space dripping down and melting into you like a feverish nightmare while they chunter around a single note like some kinda drugged up cult. Get away before they poison your mind with their hypnotic mono-thrum vibes or give in to the swelling, throbbing darkness forever.