Just some guys from Lviv. Ukraine. The songs are long. They're often both slow and loud. Y'know, like if Pink Floyd played Black Sabbath. With pristine production.

Somali Yacht Club The Sea (Robustfellow Productions/ Kozmik Artifactz)

To be fair, SYC drops in plenty of shoegaze mellowness as well, which lends these lengthy pieces something of a drone-like (and dream-like) quality. No matter how it gets described, however, there are very bands who have the ambition to try something like this. Even fewer get it right.

These songs don't so much build as come in on a rising tide. After a while, the insistence of the sound waves is overpowering. These songs will overcome the stiffed resistance.

It's unusual that I'm struggling to find words for this meditative set. I love it, and I guess I'm having a hard time separating my pleasure from my job. There are worse fates.

Jon Worley