Ekranoplan

Straight out of San Francisco erupt Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound, a band that formed early in the new millennium but sounds like it just washed in from the '60 and early '70s. Assemble Head's self-produced and self-released debut album was available in minimal quantities (500 to be precise), so Ekranoplan will be most people's introduction to their approach in the studio. The group's core trio sports a wide array of influences, all of which burst out in this recording. Mosquito Lantern, for instance, is built around an Iron Butterfly-ish riff, a hard rockin' blues that slides into rockabilly and then prog before the song's done. A Bourbon for Rudy is even more blues-based, and bleeds straight out of The Corner Zombies, which is brighter in sound, with a definite Jefferson Airplane bent. In contrast comes the darker Occult Roots, a song that slips right into Black Sabbath's satanic realms, while the blistering D Brown boasts Hendrix-esque guitars early in, but swiftly settles into a delicious Creamy jam. And jam defines much of the band's sound, even though most of the tracks clock in at under four minutes, a style that reaches heady heights on the fabulously spacy instrumental The Morning Maiden. Even so, the Head's heads aren't totally in the past -- Ellen Koray, for instance, is a fabulous mix of classic and recent styles, while the title track spatters grunge all over {prog rock}. Prog fans will have a marvelous time comparing the Head to their originators, while everyone else will revel in the group's musicianship and glory in the rich textures and atmospheres that infuse this splendid set. ~ Jo-Ann Greene, All Music Guide