The Setting Son- Spring of Hate
(Bad Afro Records AFROCD036)
From Aural Innovations May 2009 update
The Copenhagen based 60’s styled garage, psych rock outfit, the Setting
Son are back with their 2nd record. The record was produced by Lorenzo Woodrose,
who also played a big role on the debut as well. The record is quite short and
to the point, 12 tracks, 36 minutes. The CD starts with the title track and
is quite dreamy, trippy and right away you have to adjust to the falsetto vocals
of Sebastian. Fool my Heart features a lot of the same signatures of the previous
song, with the dreamy, high pitched vocals, garagy drums, and organ. This track
is a bit faster though. Soulmate starts with this classic Doors like organ sound
and a real 60’s sounding guitar.
Obsession is more garagy with a real 60’s styled tortured guitar solo
and this bouncy rhythm. Girl of Sorrow slows things down and the opening lyrics
are great, “She got eyes like the ocean and the mouth like a herring”…
A nice dreamy song, a bit Doors meets early Pink Floyd feel. Out of tune features
a quite special sounding organ sound and has this like 60’s movie soundtrack
feeling and is one of the more psychedelic tracks on the album. Creepy Crawlers
sounds a lot like a track from the first record. Maybe it is the way that he
sings it. Wrong from the Start keeps the pace, fast and the organ lines fluid
and a great short organ solo by Heinz. Mama Baby lets the lead guitarist lay
down a nice solo. The band does not leave much space for solos in these 2-3
minute tracks but I love the organ on in Depression. It also has really low
fi drums and is a more uptempo track. I can see the hippies dancing now.. Demons
in my Head features an acoustic guitar and is not so organ dominated and more
laid back. The album ends with I lost Control. This starts of slow and spacey
and then suddenly shocks you by really going fast. This is a good psych number
to end the album and maybe the longest track at just over 4 minutes.
Well, that is Setting Son. If you like their sound you will dig this. There is more variety on this record than the first one but still a lot of it sounds the alike Enjoy, with a spliff, blacklight and the lava light burning bright..
Reviewed by Scott Heller
or
Are these guys Danish? Their label is. It seems there's a lot of "retro"
stuff coming out of that region. This is no-frills U.S.-style '60's pop-psyche...frankly,
I wouldn't have minded a few frills...these guys do really basic 2-3 minute
poppy numbers, the vocals are in a very rigid monotone whiny-kid style...and
it's not growing on me! The lyrics are litanies of what "she" is or
isn't, what "she" does or doesn't do. Very few actual '60s bands spring
to mind. It's just "that sound". You've got the kinda surfy bouncy
drums, your organ, tambourine, occasional xylophone. These guys are a solid
rockin combo, maybe a band you might enjoy at a pub just having a few, but there's
nothing really fresh or inspiring here. At times the rhythm guitar gets pretty
chugging and reminds me of Gary Ramon's early Sundial tone, but these guys don't
get as trippy. "Fool My Heart" is way too pop-catchy, or maybe "bubble-gummy"
works in this context. "Out of Tune" is a cool song...or I'm just
a sucker for those "aaaahhhh" choral parts. The band kicks up the
intensity on "I Lost Control" and the chorus starts out sounding like
a certain Electric Prunes hit. And that's all.
Reviewed by Chuck
Check out the band web site at: http://www.myspace.com/thesettingson
Check out the Bad Afro Record site at: http://www.badafro.dk