Features | Awards

The "Whoa, Dark Side of the Moon Really DOES Sync up to The Wizard of Oz" Award for Melting the Faces of College Freshmen

By David M. Goldstein | 14 December 2013

Earthless :: From the Ages

Brah, remember Comets on Fire? They really pushed one’s brain to a higher (cough, cough) plane of consciousness. The furious drum fills, never-ending wah-wah guitar solos and general air of chaos were sooooo not meant to be experienced without a black light and/or one-hitter. Why Ethan Miller completely scuttled that project in favor of the frequently enjoyable, but decidedly more pedestrian AOR tribute of Howlin’ Rain is beyond reason, but let’s praise Jah that we have Earthless to pick up the hemp rope slack.

In fact, guitarist Isaiah Mitchell lends his axe mastery to both bands. But while he’s essentially Miller’s hired gun for the touring band in Howlin’ Rain, he’s the main reason to tune in here, approximating ’69 Fillmore East-style space rock with ease amidst the bong-rattling bass of Mike Eginton and four armed drumming of Marco Rubalcaba. Do you enjoy the prospect of what’s essentially one hour long guitar solo split between four individual “songs”? Would you prefer the guitarist’s wah-pedal to be surgically attached to his foot? Maybe you like to enhance your listening experience with psychedelic drugs and you’re that dude in his freshman dorm with a hemp necklace and fourteen Phish shows under his belt? From the Ages will allow you to form long lasting, quite possibly sexual, friendships with the heady folks who get “it,” while completely and instantly alienating those who don’t. And you don’t have time for those squares anyway.


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