Labels: Self-Released/Heavy Psych Sounds
Formats: Vinyl/CD/Digital
Release Date: 19-Feb-2014/26-Apr-2024
Tracklist:
1. Trees
2. Stone By Stone
3. All Dried Up
4. Mean Square
5. Blue Overtone Storm/Yellow Planetary Sun
Earlier this year Italian purveyors of all things doom 'n' groove Heavy Psych Sounds set about reissuing the entire back catalogue of Australian blues/stoner rock band Child, starting with their debut self-titled record from 2014, almost ten years after it's original release. This power trio are a new name to me but thanks to the HPS PR wheel that's forever turning, I have the chance to get acquainted with them. I hope you'll join me for what promises to be a wild ride.
On an evening when I’ve been given the annual reminder about noise levels within the block that I reside, a chilled out interlude is much needed. Child deliver a hefty dose of blues-rock with minimal urgency. Easy going percussion, sumptuous melodic guitar work and vocals oozing with that classy Desert Sessions-style drawl work in unison to deliver fantastic music on opener ‘Trees’.
‘Stone By Stone’ starts of with more immediacy, albeit not necessarily due to tempo. It has a more traditional song structure from the off but it later descends into a heavily-instrumental blues number, showing off just how impressive Child are musically. Where I live in the UK, there’s a bar that specialises in blues and to be honest, it has never appealed to me as a venue because it has an obvious clique; however, if it were to one day book Child (unlikely I know), I’d be there like a shot just to see them.
The screeching solo mid-section of ‘All Dried Up’ is upon me before I know it, alongside the warming Moog/organ and the whisky-drenched vocals that sound even more powerful now. Child’s momentum seems to grow with each song on this record and while this one is their shortest, it’s by no means forgettable.
From this point on Child go back down a fuzz-laden road on penultimate song ‘Mean Square’, thanks to the rumbling bass tone that kicks it off. That bass is the heaviest thing about it and the trio’s sound throughout this record, but there’s no need for anything louder to be honest. It’s not often now that I venture to this end of the slow/low musical spectrum but it’s something I should really do more often. Less dissonance, more resonance.
Ending their first record with the ten+ minute freak out ‘Blue Overtone Storm/Yellow Planetary Sun’ is (was?) a masterstroke. Kinda like if Kyuss, Oneida and Nebula formed one hell of a supergroup. I guess they would sound like Child do here. It’s an absolute joy to behold. Almost fourteen years after this blog’s conception, discovering bands that are new to me is the best thing. Child are excellent and well worth diving down the rabbit hole for.
You can stream and purchase Child directly from Child below:-
Child - https://www.facebook.com/childtheband
Heavy Psych Sounds - https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUNDS
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