white lodge - holy void

White Lodge

Holy Void
self-released; 2013

3.9 out of 5

By Matt Jensen

White Lodge is a group from Queensland, Australia that brings raw, guitar rock that not only has music that sounds like it was conceived in the 70’s but was also recorded in the 70’s. On their latest release Holy Void they have a downright dirty sound that embraces a similar aesthetic to contemporaries like Ty Segall Band. Just about everything on the songs are distorted. The guitar, the vocals and even the drums sound like they have a heavy dose of tape saturation applied. 

What's most impressive about this album is that even though the songs have similar roots they contain a lot of variety. This can't be better exemplified than by the first song on the album “Breath Of Shiva,” which blends a 70’s aesthetic with an overt 50’s influence. The song sounds like it would be right at home on a compilation of 50’s tunes like “Earth Angel” by The Penguins. It reminded me of the stellar record that Foxygen came out with earlier this year. “Teenage Fever Dream” changes courses to an upbeat, catchy, punk song while “Black Hyacinth” owes a lot to the bassist for making this song memorable. That being said the rest of the band also rocks out hard. “Black Hyacinth” is an intense song with heavy guitar riff and intense blood curdling vocals.

Some elements of surf show up on “Velvet Sea” which is the shortest song on the album. Perhaps the highlight of the album was “Red Moon Hex.” The beginning of the song sounds like something you might hear in a modern day western written by Quentin Tarantino. It’s the music that is playing when our hero enters the town. I think it’s the whistling that really made it work.

They close with the longest track called “Corduroy Clouds,” which to my surprise was one of the most restrained songs that never really takes off. Holy Void is a fun listen from top to bottom and has a nice flow with very few lulls. 

It is highly recommended.

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