Pearls And Brass: Indian Tower

Unless you live on the East Coast, or have seen Om preform in the Bay Area during the first two albums OR haven't seen the Stoner Rock documentary 'Such Hawks, Such Hounds', Pearls and Brass might not come up on the radar. Forgive me for taking that assumption.

Like mentioned before, this band's name came to me while viewing fliers for early Om shows. The name seemed really cool, but still appeared unassuming. I finally saw them open for Om at Slim's shortly after 'Conference of the Birds' came out. For some reason, I thought Pearls and Brass was from the West Coast, but they are not. I thought, why the hell would a band come across the country to play 1 show, as an opening slot? Because Om said so? Sure, why not? Regardless, their set blew me away. Shortly after that Om show, I picked up this doozy of an album 'Indian Tower'.

The first thing you notice while traveling through the album is the structure of the songs. To me seem circular, by which I mean that the riffs and rhythms roll from one to the next, almost nonstop. I feel like that each doesn't give you a break until it's done, and I mean that in a great way. Randy Huth's guitar work flows like a stoned river that's got the blues. His work is chunky and heavy while still remaining in the blues-rock realm, not metal. The rhythm section of Joel Winter and Josh Martin provide the perfect back up for Huth's song writing. Huth's vocals also have this soulful swing that match the music well. This album has a heavy southern stoner swagger that can only be matched by Clutch, without sounding anything like them. Amidst the heaviness, Huth breaks up the album with two acoustic tracks: 'I Learn the Hardway' comes right in the middle and provides a tense yet diverse offering for the album, and 'Away The Mirrors' closes out the album as if watching a beast disappear back into the woods.

This album came right around the time stoner/heavy music really band to take it's stride in the masses, which seems fitting, because most of the bands were coming from a more metal approach (although not entirely). I just feel like bands aren't making this kind of music. It kind of beckons a 90s/Wino/Orange Goblin influence. Whatever it is, this album rules.

Dig in!