Thanks to the inexplicable popularity of my Submit Music page, I always have a huge digital pile of indie albums and EPs awaiting my perusal. But at this time of year — after I’ve spent months consumed by the endless onslaught of major fall releases — the backlog becomes nothing short of insane. Thankfully, now that the holiday rush is finally over, I’ve got some time to play catch-up. Here’s a recent gem from the massive stack. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do. If so, I encourage you to support the artist by buying it from their Bandcamp page — and be sure to tell them I sent you. And if you’ve got something you want me to hear, send it my way. If I think you’re half as good as you think you are, I just might include you sometime.
The Slambovian Circus Of Dreams
A Very Unusual Head
HOME BASE: New York.
GENRE: Psychedelic Americana.
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “A rootsy rockin’ psychedelica, The Slambovian Circus of Dreams have been expanding the borders of the Americana genre with their fantastic stories and performance since the late ’90s in Sleepy Hollow, New York. Their connection with audiences at shows taps into a greater human-ness and captivates with charismatic band leader Joziah Longo at center ring presiding. Joined by bandmates Tink Lloyd (accordion, cello, mandolin, flute) and the guitar-slinging skills of Sharkey McEwen, the Slambovians create a show that is constantly evolving with a little help from their friends. 2022’s lineup features RJ MacCarthaigh (bass, keys, sax), Bob Torsello (bass), and Matthew Abourezk (drums). Elements of Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Incredible String Band, Syd Barrett and The Waterboys flavor the musical mix (Waterboys co-founder Anthony Thistlethwaite is on the band’s new album). Add a good dose of Woodstock-era psychedelia framed in solid songwriting, and you have it. Touring the U.S. from February of 2022 in support of their new release A Very Unusual Head, the band has a full schedule touring here and in the U.K., headlining the Wickham Festival, Fairport’s Cropredy Festival and more.
Recorded over the last four years in five studios and two countries, their sixth album A Very Unusual Head is a kaleidoscope of songs. Opening their creative tent to notable performer friends: fellow New Yorker Dar Williams, Anthony Thistlethwaite (The Waterboys), Kolson Pickard (producer of Tall Heights and Pico Romanesque), the songs and musical escapades of the band make for a sonically beautiful, creative and adventurous album.
Inspired by the surrealist painters and Dylan as a 12 year old growing up in Philadephia, Longo chronicles a bit of that journey honoring those who offer an intellectual/creative escape hatch needed to sort life’s big questions. Its songs which touch on science (Force of Nature), the creative mind (Solve It All Dāli), theology’s wandering path (Brilliantly Dumb) and the vision and hope we seem to have mislaid but can find again if we only Step Outta Time and Look Around!”
Listen to the album below, watch the video for Stand Under / Understand above, and join The Slambovian Circus Of Dreams at their website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
