With their roots in psychedelic rock of every variety, each of Dead Meadow’s albums have gone in different directions while still providing the type of rich tonality listeners can get lost in. Some material has been heavier on the fuzz and volume while others have let the melodies take hold and provided a sprawling soundscape one can zone out to, but the hooks have always been there. The core duo of Jason Simon and Steve Kille has been joined by different drummers over the course of their career, with all three drummers contributing to the band’s latest full length The Nothing They Need. Spread over eight tracks, The Nothing They Need takes on a darker and heavier tone than 2013’s Warble Womb and opts for slightly more compact songwriting.
Where its predecessor mellowed out significantly and explored quite a bit of soft textures, The Nothing They Need feels like it bridges the gap between that sound and the band’s earliest efforts. Considering this serves as a celebration of Dead Meadow’s twentieth anniversary and has all of the musicians that have been involved in the group to date that feels appropriate. But this doesn’t mean that instrumentals have simply revisited old ground without switching things up, as when the guitar and bass head into louder, fuzz heavy tonality the sound is much fuller and lets each instrument break through. What’s likely to stand out the first time through is the darker melodies at work throughout the course of the album which gives the material a drearier feel at times, not that far removed from the 90’s desert rock scene. But even with that hint of darkness, there are warm textures running underneath that suck the listener in and still make this a perfect album to chill out to. Psychedelic rock of any variety is always at its best when it has the power to wash over you and produce day dreams of journeys into places unknown, and that’s what Dead Meadow achieves once again. The forty two minute run time also ensures that these songs are fairly compact and don’t spread out further than they need to, transitioning over to something different before the hooks start to wear thin.
The instrumentals may move between heavier and mellow elements but Jason Simon’s vocals stick with the latter. There’s an airier quality to his singing that often makes it feel as though each word is hovering over the layers of sound and that works quite well considering the calmer and reflective feeling that the majority of these songs give off. Psych rock often has a habit of burying its vocals in the overall mix, letting them fight to break free, but Simon remains front and center throughout The Nothing They Need and he makes the most of it and pulls you in with each verse.
Twenty years in, Dead Meadow is still writing material that puts you under its spell with ease. The Nothing They Need feels like it’s bridging the gap between the band’s more recent albums and some of their earliest songs, while still pushing outwards in different directions. Turn out the lights, turn the volume up, and let these guys take you on a journey that’s both melancholic and reflective. The Nothing They Need is out now on Xemu Records.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg
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