THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “As the heppest of you undoubtedly know, Yerba Mansa are guitarist Edwin Stevens (Irma Vep, Klaus Kinski, Web of Lies) and drummer Andrew Cheetham (Richard Dawson, Jane Weaver, Waterless Hills). Both have been members of Desmadrados Soldados de Ventura, and are purveyors of raging, mind-bending primitive garage infused Middle-Eastern free-rock psychedelia.
Edwin’s mesmerizing guitar playing is capable of conjuring sonic specters from thin air. Andrew’s limitless drumming is rooted in jazz and totally mesmerizing in fluidity and movement — the grooves within Gravity’s Joke are some of the most fierce, apocalyptic and heady jams you will hear this year. Yerba Mansa whirl up demonic raga meltdowns that showcase their individual chops and dual telepathy. The guitar vernacular is pure Sharrock / Flower / Quine — the tuning sounds like it could be ostrich; the drumming is more octopus.
The title track that forms Side 2 is an epic mystical freak-out. The whole shebang could and should implode at any time, but doesn’t; it hangs together somehow as melodies appear out of the chaos and the song relentlessly builds to a shamonic climax akin to stumbling across a tribal rite in the American Plains late at night. Your backbone will tingle as though a demonic spirit has left the speaker cones and entered your soul. Sizzling, stifling and ever-so-slightly earscraping, this is a must for any lover of untamed music.
This ain’t an album, it’s some kind of ritual.”
