Ancient Romans

Sun Araw just rules, okay? Cameron Stallones, our favorite SoCal badboy is at it again, still buzzed from the success of his excellent 2010 release On Patrol. This album procures lots of textures that will seem familiar to anyone who’s heard his stuff before: otherworldly effects, blistering guitars, muggy, humid washes of swirling psychedelia. I don’t know if I would say that it is particularly “poppy,” but it is certainly more structured than his Night Gallery collaboration with Eternal Tapestry that just cycled through the A-file.

And don’t let the long song lengths intimidate you—fortune favors the brave. FCC CLEAN

RIYL: Pocahaunted, Magic Lantern, (he’s in both groups) Dylan Ettinger, Peaking Lights, Inca Ore

1. (9:07) Effulgent organy keyboard riffs, zany distorted xylophone. Blown-out speakers and punished guitars spewing out a heap of static. It’s on now!
2. (9:54) Spiraling guitar effects and a gentle midtempo rhythmic pulse. Slowly builds momentum.
3. (9:30) Puts percussion at the forefront—lots of bells, triangles, etc. Vocals that seem surprisingly crisp. Lots of textures that will be familiar to anyone who listened to On Patrol. Gets exponentially trippier at about the 7 minute mark with squishy swimming synth and staccato guitar scratching.
4. (7:02) Slow intro: thudding drums and gentle guitars. Slowly builds up, but doesn’t quite take off like the others do.
5. (11:07) Mystical and powerful. Tape loop manipulation, sizzling guitar, all done with a runic palette.
6. (10:35) Slow drifting, punchy drums. The occasional bongo. Really picks up at the four minute mark. Excellent vocals and lots of jazzy saxophone to boot.
7. (6:39) Loose wah-wah pedal guitar, squeals of noise, the same insistent bongos employed as before. Super sci-fi trippy Magnetron ish.
8. (15:35) Heavy on the electronic side, almost danceable. Great disorienting layers: tropical keyboard, perky guitars, rubbery deep-space alien hatchery foundsound samples.