Eleusia – The ‘Waves In The Clouds’ EP.
Eleusia – Medway, England, United Kingdom.
British Psychedelic funkians Eleusia pay a phenomenal homage to the British Psychedelic Rock Gods of old with their thrilling new EP Waves In The Clouds. An epic second release from the band, this record astonished me with musical brilliance and hooks from start to finish.
I really want to start with my first exposure to the band through the accompanying music video for the single ‘Deep Blue Sea’. It shatters into rhythm with a sickly guitar riff with that grand Jimmy Hendrix/Stevie Ray Vaughan flair. It has just enough reverb to make your head shake. The drums and bass are so sick they have Polio, and the vaccine is the smooth croon of the vocalist.
He reminds me of a cross between Kenny Wayne Shepard and Julian Casablancas of The Strokes. Two American acts, proving once again no matter how good we can make Blues-Rock, the British do it better.
After the second chorus, the guitarist once again floors me with some Jack White whammy pedal action that slices the sound waves like a Katana. He squeals into a bend that changes the timing up and I’m lost in the groovy dude feeling and to top off the sweet and salty bridge, the lead singer starts syncopating his lyric to to the rhythm then finishing out the lines with the drummer. He starts wailing ‘It’s Calm‘ and the bass and drums pick up perfectly. He hits the notes perfectly and Once again Mr. Lead Guitar starts shredding on his “wah” and the band owns it in perfect time to fade out the song.
Listening to this track is like riding in an elevator with all your favourite guitarists, epic on so many levels.
So after rocking my cranium with the single, I wanted to hear what else these chaps had to offer. Get it, I said chaps cause their from England. Im a horrible person. These dudes are obviously not, because the rest of the EP is a magnificent display in writing talent. While the lyrics can be basic, the meanings ring true and you can hear true pain from the vocalist’s heart.
It’s a lot like early Led Zeppelin, where they sound like a live band that’s just getting into the studio and putting down the performance they’ve been fleshing out for a while. I’m not saying its not produced enough, just has a very raw feel to the songs.
In ‘Little Devil Girl’, the smooth rhythm makes you picture that one girl you had the hots for, but just knew she was “bad news bears”. The vocalist opens up a lot more and shows off his ability to hold a note with great tremolo which gets me in my soul place. Theres a sweet bass/drums hook change up that leads well into the Joe Walsh sloppy guitar solo. Man, I want to be this guitarist’s friend.
‘Fly Away’ is an icy-Blues number. The kinda song that makes you wanna drink whiskey till you cant remember her name. The last and most funkafied (my spell check thinks I’m horrible too) tune is ‘Dancing to the Night’.
The guitarist puts on a purple shirt and harnesses Prince’s ghost for some of the funkiest guitar licking ever. This song is so hot I couldn’t touch my laptop while listening and I feared the speakers melting. The bass lays it down like theres no tomorrow. Mr. Best Friend Guitar shows off even more effects pedal talent while driving his band to keep pushing through the groove space.
The vocalist comes back in at the perfect time in the solo to draw you back in for more of that sweet axe. Do you get that I like this guitarist yet? The song fades out as heavy and slowly breaths back to life in cut 6/8 timing, it slowly plucks through sounding faintly of Pink Floyd.
The band must have a good record collection, ending at an astonishing 10:18, it’s the perfect end to a colossal release. What a great mixture of era’s and once again some impressive Blues from across the pond.
Find everything you need below:
- For updates on head to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and their Official Website.
- For streaming, find Eleusia on Spotify, Tidal and their Youtube Channel.
- The back catalogue as well as this EP can be found on bandcamp, Google Play and iTunes.
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