Heavy psychedelic jam based space rock, is that a mouthful? Far Out in Aradabia is a reissue of their sophomore album originally released back in 2004. The combination of heavy guitar and organ is usually a winner in my book, but I find that most of the music here falls flat. We are immediately greeted with heavy fuzz guitar and keys on the opening track “Arabs in Aspic II”, but suddenly the band launches into a spoken word narrative that quickly deflates any momentum the song had. Although the band scores points for intensity, it’s not enough to bring this collection to average status. The albums centerpiece is the overly drawn out “Butterpriest Jam”, clocking in at 18+ minutes, it is an exercise in repetitive, and often boring passages that go nowhere. The track was a studio jam that lasted 65 minutes and was edited down to 19 minutes. At least at this stage of their career, the band does not have the chops or creative songwriting prowess to justify such a lengthy piece. Ultimately, this may prove to be a band finding their footing, and hopefully they have grown and progressed over the years.
Track Listing
1) Arabs in Aspic II (6:41)
2) Hair of the Sun (7:30)
3_ Siseneg (5:26)
4) Talking Mushroom (6:15)
5) Come to Me (6:06)
6) Butterpriest Jam (18:45)