Two things struck me listening to ‘Blank Panthers/ Priest, Expert or Wizard’; one was the exceptional level of musicianship – there are some truly talented guys at work here, and the other was the sheer scope of what is on offer. This is a band completely unafraid to mix and match and to juggle styles and all to great effect. I was trying to think of what ‘genre’ I would sum things up as, and gave up! There are some wonderfully psych moments, some flashes of krautrock and jazz, some exotic ethnic flourishes, some explosive post-punk and some indie sensibilities: to try to round up all that in one, easy soundbite seems wrong and, I guess, goes against what the band are trying, and indeed succeed, to do. This is really one hell of a trip! – Dayz of Purple and Orange
The disjointed psych of Skyjelly has been percolating in my system for a few weeks now and I’m just getting a chance to sort it all out. Doomtrip Records pulled together a double album drop that culls some of the band’s previously self-released recordings along with a cadre of new tracks in tow. With regards to nailing an aesthetic, Skyjelly won’t let themselves sit still for too long; weaving a sound that pulls at strings of psychedelic pop, clattering blues and the shantytown shakedown that gives Goat a sense of displaced appeal. They have the heart of the old guard beating somewhere at their core (there’s a distinct, but faded “Sympathy For The Devil” simmer on the balk half of “Acosta”) but they digest most of them completely and work things into a sort of hybrid hairball of psych explosion that has the modern sense of being inundated with as many inputs and influences as a day spent on YouTube could offer. – Raven Sings the Blues