PRICE:
$42.00
IN STOCK
ARTIST
TITLE
Historical Graffiti (Striped Vinyl)
FORMAT
LP

LABEL
CATALOG #
HPS 202ULTRA-LP HPS 202ULTRA-LP
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
10/28/2022

LP version. Striped vinyl. Reissue, originally released in 2016. Historical Graffiti is the band's fourth full-length. Gary Arce, the guitarist, seems comfortable sitting on a single vamp throughout the opener "The Wind Cries Edalyn", allowing the additions of violin and bandoleon accordion (played by the tango musicians Sara Ryan and Adolfo Trepiana, respectively) to weave melodies in between. Despite the titular connection to the Jimi Hendrix song, it bears no discernible resemblance to "The Wind Cries Mary" and it is a deceptive number; what seems such a simple, almost easy-listening song reveals more color with every listen. "Her Phantom Finger of Copenhagen" is slightly darker and almost sounds, with the slight distortion on Arce's guitar, as if it could have come from Pot Head, the EP the band released in 2005. Mario Lalli, the bass player, begins the third song, "Naomi Crayola" with a throbbing single note, aided by Bill Stimson's metronomic drumming. Ryan's violin returns in "The Secret Language of Elephants", this time playing the role of keeping the main vamp alive while Arce's guitar generates an evocative soundscape that opens in your mind a wide, violet sky like that above a desert the moment after the sun disappears for the night. The closing song and title track is the most free of the five on the album, with Stimson's beat conjuring memories of Kyuss's more mellow moments.