The video above is also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/TWGHSAc3OTc
In my last story I mentioned that the “big show” in July at Winters Tavern would feature Telekinetic Yeti from Iowa. I really wanted to do a video with CJ, owner/booker at Winters, to give all of you the inside scoop on this show, but he was off to Denver before we could do it. This is one of those shows where well known and on the rise bands are on a packaged tour playing mostly larger venues than Winters, but CJ finds a way to get them to do a gig. He’s built up a rep at Winters that has bands from all over wanting to play there.
As I was working on that last story, I noticed that the Yeti tour would put them in Denver while CJ was there. Could he meet them at the show for an interview? Yes! He met up with Telekinetic Yeti just before they hit the stage at the Hi Dive. I beamed in remotely and we had a chat with this monster duo from Iowa about all things doom, and ….. pig wrestling.
In recent years, doom has become a very popular branch of metal’s many subgenres. So what exactly is it and how does Yeti fit in? The first things about doom that come to my mind are very loud, dense, bass heavy sounds with slow pounding rhythms and maybe some screaming or shouted vocals. That’s just for starters. Yeti drummer Rockwel Heim was quick to toss out a checklist of things most doom bands might have. Sure, Yeti has these things. And they have less.
Telekinetic Yeti are a duo that will rattle your bones and have you banging your head with glee better than most larger bands. Guitarist/vocalist Alex Baumann describes his approach to sound, equipment and song writing as “smart simplicity”. He selected the duo format as a practical matter, wanting to tour as much as possible with a minimum of schedule conflicts from other band members. He also selected it as a challenge; how to get that full band sound out of his guitar? In the interview he describes some of the things he’s done to achieve this over the eight years of the duo’s existence. You can taste this on their recordings and videos. Or you can immerse yourself into it full on with the band live and join them in the bone crushing fun. Throw the checklist out the window. As Alex said, “it’s what the riff does to the mind” that’s important.
There are two other bands on the tour that have also been called “doom metal”, among other things. No band wants to be pigeonholed. The three bands on this tour are a great example of how genre defying the really good bands are. In these three bands you will hear the incredible diversity of genre influences that have made metal in general, and now doom, one of the most fertile territories for finding new and interesting music.
If the path of doom can be said to have started with Black Sabbath, and why not, then as early as 1979 it may have taken a side trip into jazz territory. I bring this up because the second band on this tour is Stinking Lizaveta from Philly, who Decibel Magazine said have a unique sound often characterized as “doom jazz”, perhaps partly because they’re an instrumental trio with an upright electric bass player.
Back in 1979, three of the biggest names in jazz fusion played in a band they called the Trio of Doom. This supergroup featured John McLaughlin on guitar, Jaco Pastorius on bass, and Tony Williams on drums (just 7 years later Williams would be in the studio with Bill Laswell recording the Public Image Ltd LP ALBUM). The technical mastery of these three musicians did not get in the way as they pushed genre boundaries again, blowing the doors off of fusion with volume and density to go along with their technique. Unfortunately, a dispute in the band forced it to end after only one live performance. They really were doomed.
Stinking Lizaveta, on the other hand, has been around for about 30 years. Their first album back in the 1990’s was recorded by well known producer Steve Albini who liked them so much he helped to promote the band. By 2012, here’s what one reviewer had to say about their album 7th Direction:
“Bringing together elements of funk, metal, punk, jazz and blues with the same kind of cavalier oddball brilliance as Frank Zappa, Stinking Liz are a really unique band whose music possesses a truly bombastic groove and a freewheeling spirit of improvisation and fun”. –The Sleeping Shaman, bringing you the latest news, reviews and interviews from the 'heavier than thou' underground.
In spite of their longevity this band has remained off my radar until now. After listening to a few videos of the band, I’m going to have to throw a little more confusion into the mix of genres used to describe them. Progressive. Yup, I’m using it again … the ‘P’ word. I heard what sounded like some of the more avant-garde moments of classic mid 70’s YES. You know, those moments that would get super dense and somewhat chaotic on sections of Topographic Oceans or Relayer. If you were to play just those sections to a young metal fan today I swear they’d think YES was an industrial noise band.
Needless to say, I’m stoked to see this band after 30 years of somehow missing them. They have a new album out called Anthems and Phantoms and it’s their 9th full length release.
The third band on the tour is Somnuri from Brooklyn. They too have a new release called Desiderium. The band has recently tried to steer clear of the pigeonholing problem from genre labels that I mentioned above.
On their 2021 release Nefarious Wave they said it’s a “snapshot of survival and resilience in the band's native Brooklyn.” No doubt Brooklyn is a competitive place for bands. It probably has the highest concentration of underground metal bands trying to scratch their way to the surface of any place in North America. The Bandcamp tags they listed for this album include: metal, desert rock, doom metal, heavy rock, sludge metal, stoner doom, stoner rock, and last but not least New York. That’s a lot of metal. But I think it’s helpful, for me at least, since I don’t know the band and I’m trying to decide if I want to give’m a listen.
That’s in sharp contrast to their recent release Desiderium which they say is “not constrained by any label or descriptor.” The Bandcamp tags for this one are simply: metal, New York. Okay. I can appreciate that. To be fair, they also mention a few bands for comparison, two of which I know and like. Another attention grabber for me was finding out this album was recorded at the New York City studios of probably the greatest metal band to ever come out of France, Gojira. Love them! I’d like to know more about any deeper connections to this band, but hey, at some point I need to stop thinking and start listening. Again, the Somnuri video clips I checked out make me look forward to this show even more.
So, are these three bands doom? Who cares! They’re three great heavy rock bands that will be playing in the perfect environment for any heavy rock band … the dive bar. If you’re not in the SF Bay Area I provided links above for you to explore this music. If you ARE in the Bay Area … Lucky You! Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see these bands live at Winters Tavern.
Get tickets here:
WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 2023 AT 7 PM
Telekinetic Yeti Mind Melds with Tavern Owner