Pretty Lightning – “There Are Witches In The Woods” – [Fonal Records]

Well it seems the spirit of Junior Kimbrough wandered off to Germany and immersed himself in the spacey brains of these two childhood stoner buddies… Quite an interesting release from Fonal Records here, not only because they’re not Finnish, but also this really only has slight hints of the trademark freak folk sound, relying instead on some heavy Delta Blues Stomp swept up in swells of krautrock sensibilities from the Fatherland. These guys take the rudimentary guitar-drums basic blues format that’s swept the mainstream in recent years and made it all their own. Melodic mantras drowned out in the droning wash of theremins, organs and shruti box, with hazy vocals peaking out just over the surface. They have an emphasis on the sound as a whole rather than simple hooks and refrains; anyone can play the blues, it’s about HOW you play it. They take one dirty riff and play it on and on like a meditation, much like Kimbrough’s signature style. I wouldn’t call it psychedelic (maybe tracks 8, 9), but it definitely sounds like they lit some incense, passed around a joint and jammed on and on. Maybe we’ll drop the acid another day…