Comet Control - S/T (Album Review)

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 20/5/2014

Label: Tee Pee Records

Comet Control ‘Comet Control’ track listing:

1.) Blast Magic
2.) Future Forever
3.) Ultra Bright
4.) The Soft Parade
5.) Century
6.) Hats Off to Life
7.) Fear the Haze
8.) Master

Bio:

COMET CONTROL is the new band from Andrew Moszynski (guitar) and Chad Ross (vox/guitar), formerly of Canadian psych rock champions QUEST FOR FIRE.  COMET CONTROL extends the dark, bass-driven washes of sound that QUEST FOR FIRE fabulously produced and drenches it in majestic bursts of pastel post-rock guitars and bright, breezy vocals. Simultaneously heavy and sunny, COMET CONTROL rocket to the forefront of today's dark psych scene.

The Band :

Andrew Moszynski | Guitar

Chad Ross | Vox, Guitar

Nicole Howell | Bass

Jay Anderson | Drums

Christopher Sandes | Keys

Review:

Sometimes, you just need to get away. 

Not physically, but rather, spiritually.  You need to be taken on a journey where new sensations and sights abound.  Personally speaking, I choose the sonic method of transcendence, and today’s willing dealer of expansion is Toronto’s Comet Control.  These guys are like a supernova of sound blasting over your aural horizons, making vibrant new colours dance across your eyes.  Their self-titled LP was only recently released, and I was tasked with reviewing this strange beast.  Load up the spaceship with the rocket fuel: it’s time to explore! 

Ever wonder what it’d be like if Smashing Pumpkins and Hawkwind explored the galaxy together and took the time to collaborate on a monolithic rock opera?  Well, I think Comet Control have the answer to that giddy little question: their music is trippy, fuzzed-up and mighty.  Opener ‘Blast Magic’ has that seventies’ sweeping prog scope to it, tempered with this backbone of chugging downer rock.  As soon as I heard this, it made me sit up and take notice.  Its eight minutes of strange awesomeness, and any prog-fancier should definitely be putting the needle to this wax right now.  Your consciousness expansion program demands it. 

The other seven tracks on offer here take different methods to get you to that plateau of sonic nirvana: ‘Future Forever’ is a ballsy, explosive chariot of rock fire, with a really catchy hook that sinks straight into your cheek with a fisherman’s panache.  And it’s a good fisherman I’m talking about here.  Really good.  Then you have a track like ‘Century’, with its spiralling synthesisers painting elegant pictures on a canvas of roaring rock.  Close your eyes, listen to ‘Century’, and watch the dazzling spectacle unfold in your mind’s eye. 

When I first heard ‘Hats off to Life’, for some weird reason it instilled in me a vision of Star Wars colliding with The Phantom of the Opera, with Pink Floyd writing the score to this odd merging.  On further listenings, it’s actually simply a remarkable Floydian tune, with some sumptuous guitar soloing and melancholy lyrics.  Its mighty crescendo and Hammond-organ outro leave you feeling like the sun has suddenly vanished from our skies, and a deep night has enveloped our world.  Powerful?  Atomically so. 

It seems like Canada has gotten itself a new prog star on the rise.  If you wish to explore vast new landscapes without ever leaving the comfort of your own house, I suggest putting on your headphones, holding all your calls and putting Comet Control into your brain.  You will love the adventure you’ll take; of that, I have no doubt. 

Words by: Chris Markwell

You can get it here

For more information :

http://cometcontrol.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/CometControl