Santa Cruz, California trio, Planet Plow is fronted by guitarist Garrett Schultz and bassist Thomas Sakoda and its earliest formation took place back in 2010. After countless lineups of musicians who came and went – the latest of which was their last drummer in 2015 – the band once again regrouped in 2016 as a trio, with Dale Anzelmo on the drums. Planet Plow's first full length album Dawn of Plow is a “sampler platter to excite all the senses containing songs which span the full breadth of the band's existence.” The group describes their album as a “delightful mixture of strange, spacey, spicy, funky, potent, psychedelic sonic mutations presented in a form palatable to all Earth-kind.” Are you ready for a ride? The band takes influences from such bands as, Ween, Pixies, Talking Head and the Flaming Lips with a few touches of blues, rock and psychedelic mixed in.
The opener “I Took One” rocks and rolls along with great funk bass action. The chorus gets light and airy with ethereal sounding backing vocals and the lyrics are pretty funny, too. “Moldavian Moonshine” has a swaggering, low down jazzy vibe mixed with rockabilly flavor. The spirited mood and slow tempo of the song works well – and yeah, pun intended. “Bound to This Town” features a tighter beat and a tense, anxious mood. Lyrically, the words suggest being stuck in the same boring town you grew up in and that can either be a good thing, or a very, very bad thing. One of the longer songs on the album is “The Duel” and it starts off with a beat and guitar riff in a sort of anthem-like “call to arms” fashion, which fits well with the title. The style, arrangements and the way in which the singers bounce off each other is very punk/ska, but I thought in a more sophisticated, socially conscious kind of way, like The Clash. “Hate Myself (Love Everybody)” features a pop rock guitar riff, pretty catchy, but here again, the band punks it up quite well. Overall, it’s got great mood, sass and attitude. “Jimmy Legs” starts off with a killer, low down riff and a slow and thick head-banging beat. Another great catchy number, with a fantastic guitar solo thrown in. The lyrics are damn hilarious, too. “Crazy as Shit” has a bluesy feel, smoky and slow grooving. The words proclaim – “the girl is crazy as shit… but I dig it.” “Egomaniacal” has a funk-pop beat and a songwriter who can’t stay sober. “Science” gets good and funky with its bouncing beat and “wah-wah” guitar action. This one was one of my favorites, because the band mixes their own brand of wackiness and musical style. The best line was – “cheers bitches, it’s a toast to science!” “Here on Out” begins with a burp – literally. It then goes into a lot of guitar sound, funk bass and a spirit that says, “let’s have a party, raise some hell because life is just crap anyway.” It definitely has a punk spirit behind its message. “Alisz” is perhaps one of Planet Plow’s best; it stood out for me a lot. Their approach and songwriting seemed different, and this one is filled with another great guitar and bass solo with some kick ass drumming, too. Listen to this one for sure. The closer “Ghost Owl” is the band’s longest song and it gets pretty spacey and psychedelic at times. The band also beefs up the vocals with extra singing that sounded very haunting. In the end, the song felt like one-part epic narrative, one-part progressive rock funk. A strong finish to the trio’s first full-length album.
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