The Cosmic Revolutionary's Handbook

Described as "Occult Pop" for fans of ELO, Deep Purple, Fleetwood Mac and Queen, the 9 track record from the Nottingham based "spiritual organisation" sees an expansion on the prog/psych/retro stylings and hook-heavy songwriting of the critically acclaimed debut "Is Satan Real?" (2016). Piano and vintage synths have been introduced alongside the Hammond organ, electric cello and six-part vocal harmonies, resulting in a sound that truly "puts the ABBA in Sabbath".

Once upon a time, on January 11th 2019 (pre-plague), a rag-tag group of Scottish musical ne’er-do-wells flew to a fancy-ass studio in Sweden on an impossible mission to record, in two whole days, an album of the only eleven songs they could actually play. Were it not for a series of mishaps, bad calls, vodka, general tomfoolery (those f****** gloves!) and one near-death experience, they might just about have managed it too.

Church of the Cosmic Skull are a seven piece from Nottingham. The band describe themselves as an actual church, a religious movement who "seek to free mankind from their material possessions and unify all living beings into a singular cosmic whole…". You'd be forgiven for thinking this all sounds gimmicky and not exactly original; we've had bands in robes and such before, trying to reel us in with their cult-ish vibes and the promise of faux spiritual reveries, possibly followed by orgies and spiked punch. Plenty of bands have gotten mileage out of the 60’s and 70’s countercultures experiments and investigations into the great and spooky invisible, some continue faithfully in the same vein like Jess and the Ancient Ones and some revel in its glamour and darkness like Uncle Acid on their Mind Control set…

This fabulous combo which hails from just north of Seattle, Washington has a groovy surf a go-go sound fueled by twangy guitar and vintage organ, backed by an unrelenting rhythm section. The result is a sound that is influenced by the early 60's surf sound, but comes off more in the category of bands that sound like The Tiki Tones, The Huntington Cads and Stereophonic Space Sounds Unlimited. It's tinged by a bit of a sci-fi influence as well. Great stuff! 15 original songs.

British faux-gospel prog rockers Church return with this splendorous fourth album. It’s an entirely enigmatic project led by singer/ guitarist Bill Fisher, and the band’s mystical origins and white-robed stage attire carry all the trappings of an early-70s hippie sex cult, but their sound is rooted firmly in crunching classic-era arena rock…

The second Cosmic Jokers album, though originally not released under their name, offers another pair of sidelong roller-coaster rides into the cosmic void from the same musicians as the first album, with added vocals from guitarist Göttsching's girlfriend, Rosi Muller, and producer Kaiser's girlfriend Gille Lettmann. Whereas the Ash Ra Tempel elements were more dominant on the earlier record, this one relies more heavily on the conventional psychedelic sounds of the Wallenstein faction, though not to the point where it loses that loose Ash Ra vibe. Side one, "Kinder des Alles," begins with a funky driven beat before collapsing into a strange synth-saturated sound, falling deep into ambient space until eventually the track propels back into another galloping rhythm.