Ancient Sky – All Get Out (Wharf Cart Records)
One of the more difficult paths a band can tread comes when attempting to work within a particular aesthetic tradition without seeming too strictly beholden to those who had defined it in the first place.
Ancient Sky – All Get Out (Wharf Cart Records)
One of the more difficult paths a band can tread comes when attempting to work within a particular aesthetic tradition without seeming too strictly beholden to those who had defined it in the first place. The temptation to appropriate something widely known to be solid and artistically sound can be strong, but those who find themselves able to emerge from the shadow of giants are the ones most likely to grow in stature themselves.
Brooklyn’s Ancient Sky are one such band, who, over the course of three albums and a pair of EP releases, have proven themselves adept at operating within a decidedly psychedelic vein without resorting to the artifice of sixties throwback revivalism. This isn’t to suggest that their music wholly lacks parallels – Dead Meadow’s hazy stoner rock, Arbouretum’s flowing songcraft, or the ethereal drift of Cerberus Shoal’s albums in the period between their Ebullition emo days and their zany Gong-styled later work all would act as a fair comparison, though none manages to capture the totality of Ancient Sky’s overall approach.
Photo by Gabriele Spadini
Theirs is a sound both loose and concise, with flowing dynamics never giving way to the sort of unrestrained self-indulgence that can mar so many releases on the trippier end of the spectrum. Given the songs’ spacious quality (to say nothing of singer Brian Markham’s distinct drawl), the idea of the band arising from the dense urban environs that produced them can prove difficult to imagine. Though mercifully not immersed in the sort of stylized anachronism in which many of their peers choose to indulge, the extent to which they sound out of place is very much to their credit.
In much the same fashion as their 2012 album T.R.I.P.S expanded upon the promise of their eponymous debut, rendering it far denser and more vibrant, All Get Out further refines Ancient Sky’s sound. Less reliant on washes of distortion and guitar effects, the songs find the band occupying a more contemplative space but one that, rather than causing the material to seem withdrawn or subdued, instead lends it an air of focus and clarity. Whereas T.R.I.P.S witnessed the band getting expansive, their newest sees them attacking their music with a sense of unencumbered purpose. Their intent is clear, their approach is executed without distraction, and the end result comes off more cohesive than anything they’ve yet created.
