Big Walnuts Yonder is a supergroup. I don’t like using this hackneyed term anymore, but it is what it is. So, the supergroup is comprised of members of several more famous bands: vocalist Mike Watt from the Minuteman and the Stooges, guitarist Nels Cline from Wilco, drummer Greg Saunier from Deerhof, and the guitarist and the leading vocal Nick Reinhart from Tara Melos. The idea of mutual collaboration was born in 2008, but it was a problem to gather all four guys at the same place. Finally, in 2014, they got together and recorded what we have a chance to hear today on Big Walnuts Yonder.
The collection includes ten songs and it represents some sort of jam session of these indie rock veterans. Throughout the record, the listeners has the opportunity to enjoy in dissonant melodies with twisted guitar riffs and pulsating drum rhythm. One number does not come naturally after another. It is more as If the tracks were randomly collected from different jam sessions. The boys have decided to experiment with diverse influences, probably in attempt to make their sound oppose the one they were making in their mother bands. Supergroups are fine way to distant yourself from your dominant sonic expression, and to try out some fresh music solutions.
The debut of this Brooklyn debut offer plethora of interesting moments. My personal favorite is nine minute hallucinogenic instrumental Flare Star Phantom rendered through a noise free-jazz filter. I mean, the sole description makes you want to listen to it right away. I also appreciated heavy garage rock on I Got Marty Feldman Eyes and Raise The Drawbridges. And what about psychedelic pop on Forgot To Brush? Mind-blowing. Rapid Driver Moon Inhaler sounds like it dropped out of Omar Rodriguez-Lopez’s catalogue, while Pud is the only attempt to create a coherent dance rhythm on the whole record. Vibrant Ready to Pop is frenetic and fierce proto-punk number, while Sponge Bath presents power pop in the fashion of Big Walnut Yonder.
It seems like this supergroup has a superpower to sound impeccable in any genre.
