Sub Pop
2004
Blue Cathedral
About This Album
Blue Cathedral, the third outing from Santa Cruz's Comets On Fire, is the culmination of five years of sonically overdriven rock & roll research. Here, the original quartet -- Ethan Miller, guitar and vocals; Noel Harmonson, echoplex and analog keyboards; Ben Flashman, bass; Utrillo Kushner, drums -- is augmented by new member and second guitarist Ben Chasny (aka Six Organs of Admittance) and the intermittent saxophone playing of guest Tim Daly (at whose studio this album was recorded). Chasny guested on the sprawling psychedelic freakout that was 2001's Field Recordings from the Sun. One of the most captivating things about this 2004 disc is how it weds the band's garagey MC5 meets Hawkwind attack with a more textural, spacious approach that includes keyboards up front much of the time -- as in organs and pianos adding some Ummagumma-Atom Heart Mother-ish Pink Floyd sounds to the cauldron. Punters shouldn't fear that the heaviness is gone, however. Far from it. One listen to "The Bee and the Cracking Egg" or "Whiskey River" should dispel those notions immediately. The Rob Tyner strangles Robert Calvert tactics that signify Miller's vocal approach are still squalling over the top of earsplitting guitar riffs -- twice as heavy as before.
Track List (try tracks 2,4,5 and 7)

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