Yes, that is a Sun Ra reference. Of course. And while I have never seen the show, I understand that the live version of this group is about as mind-bending as the average Sun Ra show (I did catch one of those almost 30 years ago). The album, however, is more contained.

Golden Dawn Arkestra Children of the Sun (self-released)

And so this sounds more like a very busy bit of Austin psychedelia than any sort of jazz-Afropunk-funkalicious-whatever that the band generally hews to live. That's probably best.

Some bands have a stage presence that cannot be contained on a recording. George Clinton, despite his mastery of the studio, could never quite harness the power of the clan on album. Which is to say that those records are amazing, but they aren't the same as the show. I get the feeling that this Arkestra hangs out much more loosely on the stage, with radically different (but equally awesome) results.

And that's the thing. The bits and pieces of eccentricity that can flower more fully on stage work very well on this album. There is just enough looseness in the sound to give a listener a taste of the real deal, but on an album, the song must be served. Save the theatrics for the stage.

By all accounts, there are theatrics aplenty. This album is more than enough to make me want to find a show. More importantly, the album stands quite well on its own. Psychedelia that never stops shaking its ass. That's my kind of fuzz.

Jon Worley