Album Review: All Them Witches – Sleeping Through The War

Nashville based psych rock quartet All Them Witches have returned with their latest album, Sleeping Through The War, that will be released released via New West Records on February 24th, 2017. All Them Witches have never a band to settle on a style or formula, despite the success of their 2015 album, Dying Surfer Meets His Maker, their latest album heads off down another path, one that feels like a further progression down their idiosyncratic highway. Sleeping Through The War is a timely album, it’s title reflects the current turbulent situation in the world and how many people are reacting to these events, but whilst it challenges the lethargy, this is also an album that provides a welcome escape.

The epic track Bulls opens Sleeping Through The War, a dreamy slice of mellow psyche that’s edged with vintage fuzz that slowly builds up the pace and then eases you back down again, Don’t Bring Me Coffee is a more strident number, more akin to experimental post psychedelic bands of the early 1970’s, the era before rock monsters stalked the earth. The lead single from the album, Bruce Lee, brings a charged slice of garage fuelled psyche, this kind of number is what I’ve always felt was the missing element from an All Them Witches set, and it’s good to hear the kind of track I always hoped they’d produced introduced into their repertoire, in contrast 3.5.7 and Am I Going Up? are a duo of heady floating psyche influenced number that maintains the suspicious haze that is a trademark of an All Them Witches album. The final three numbers are lysergic tinged epic trips, their multi layered echo and reverb drenched soundscapes resonate with the authentic feel of west coast psychedelia, in particular the nine minute closing number, Guess I’ll Go Live On The Internet, is the prefect soundtrack for a journey to the centre of the mind.

All Them Witches are clearly considering the heavy times in which we all live, but they also encompassing influences and styles from the past. Sleeping Through The War feels very much like the natural successor to their 2015 album, Dying Surfer Meets His Maker, but at the same time it also surpasses their previous recordings. I was lucky enough to catch All Them Witches on one of last years three European tours, live they stand out alone amongst modern psyche as they capture of the original essence of psychedelia without sounding like an anachronism, and their albums are a reflection of what the manage to convey live. Every album has improved and broadened their sound, Sleeping Through The War is a fine slice of psyche, but their constant forward momentum has already made me start looking forward to their next album.

Sleeping Through The War will be available on all formats and can be pre-ordered here.