Okay, I’ll admit it was the name that first got me interested in this band. As you might imagine the “Space” part whetted my appetite for a bit of intergalactic rock in the fine tradition of Hawkwind, but really, “Fisters”? Is this French trio sticking more than just a finger up to genre with their debut ‘Vol. 1’? Album opener ‘Short Daze’, which at over nine minutes is hardly that, instead seems to pay fine tribute to the music of outer and inner space, starting with a howl like chanting monks fed through a vibrating fuzz box before a wall of distorted guitars and battering drums wash them away in a sea of feedback. The song proper then commences with vocals ethereal and far back in the mix, the focus being the cosmic jam formed of groovy bass, acid guitar and almost jazzy drums. By having a such a long track the band allows the music to grow and meander in an organic fashion, having a feeling that is both loose and relaxed like a live drum, yet with a tight interplay of musicians who know the moods and styles of each other.
By comparison the following tracks ‘Yellow Hills’ and ‘Goddess of Love/Priestess of Pain’ practically race past, the latter, the fastest paced of the four tracks on the album, having a Desert Rock sensibility to the laconic vocals and heavily distorted hypnotic guitar riff. Mid song the chugging guitars start to resemble the chugging of a chopper on a lost highway, and it’s impossible not to think of the sound of Kyuss had spread across the ocean to infect this Gallic three piece.
Closing the album is ‘Bozz’ a near fifteen minute exploration through all things psychedelic. Riffs are huge and wash out of the speakers in wave after hypnotic wave, before then receding like a cosmic tide to allow howled trippy vocals to take the lead over looping drum and bass. As the track continues to meander, taking in a tribal drum and bass break that pays more than a nod to the eclectic world music exploration of Ginger Baker, the song strayed into the acid party territory of The Stone Roses, albeit without the all pervading arrogance of some of the “Madchester” scene I was unfortunate enough to experience first hand, before warping back in time to the free-form explorations of Zappa and his band of Mothers, and then forward to the heavier tones of Tool. ‘Bozz’ really is a track that would be the centre piece of any live set, allowing each of the musicians in the band to shine out without having the audience checking their watches and making superfluous trips to the bar and merch stand.
As a debut, ‘Vol. 1’ is a strong statement of intent, and definitely one to check out.
(8/10 Spenny)
https://spacefisters.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/SpaceFisters
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