Rank: 4/5
While relaxing, the sedating tones of JEFF the Brotherhood’s “Global Chakra Rhythms” caress and nourish the listener’s ears with an aural psychedelic care package. Eschewing typical indie rock hallmarks, JEFF heads for a bigger and musically proficient sound on their latest record, most tracks exceed five minutes and relish in experimental sonic territory.
While somewhat droning at first, the excitement remains in the journey that the Orall brothers bring into focus — a floating tour through culturally steeped riffs and melodies that ebb peace and feelings of enlightenment.
JEFF sounds especially coherent and powerful on “Sweet Mary of Silence,” plunging the listener into a dark mood, reminiscent of burrowing into a massive underground cave. Sweet Mary takes on a astounding change from it’s original form as a six minute recording from Mazzy Star’s “So Tonight That I Might See” — stretching into a nine minute epic of Black Sabbath proportions and mysticism.
Vividly instrumental, the album sounds like the soundtrack to a psychedelic yoga session, with ’70s rock stylings. The tempos are smooth, gliding and mushing together time and space boundaries without any outside chemical influence. In particular, the title track embodies this ethos, beginning with punctuating organ and easing into bassy riffs with groovy drums.
While mostly pure amplifier distortion, the guitar work on this album isn’t extremely brash or overwhelming, it fits the rolling drum rhythms and outlines the cosmic aspect of the record, leaving necessary space for modulated overdubs, organs and saxophones to bring their sound into deeper terrain.
“Radiating Fiber Plane” exacts a traditional eastern psychedelic rhythm with roots in a western song writing perspective. Undulating and oscillating with polyphony, the beginning passage stirs the mind in preparation for the euphoric surge of the verse and chorus. Teeming with brightness, Jake Orall’s guitar and vocal melodies help push the song to heights covered with saccharine sweet dynamics.
The organ that revs up “Whatever I Want” is a significant tie back to the start of the album, but retains an invigorating, palate-freshening feel, allowing the slow churn of guitars and syrup drenched drums to align themselves properly for a empowering closing. While “Whatever” is clearly drenched in classic stoner rock riffage, it feels natural and fluid with JEFF’s current discography, but distinct enough to fill in the gaps for such a sudden shift in sound.