Heaters earned some well deserved buzz with their surfy, psych garage “Mean Green” single, but last year’s Holy Water Pool seemed to double down on the reverb at the expense of atmosphere. Everything was so smooth, it was hard to grab onto individual parts as they floated by. The songs were still there (see examples A and B) but they needed to simmer awhile before they stood out individually. In a way, it reminded me of the Black Lips following up their breakthrough album with 200 Million Thousand: The band was still on drugs, just maybe the wrong kind.

So anyways, Holy Water Pool sounds to me like a very good effort held back by some interesting production choices, and it seems to have passed by many critics’ radars as a result. Have no fear, though, because within thirty seconds of “Centennial”, the lead track on HWP-successor Baptistina, it becomes very clear that Heaters have returned to their wheelhouse. This thing rips the whole way through, but nowhere is that more apparent than about three minutes into album terminus “Seafoam”. The rhythm section gets locked into something so tight it seems they might suffocate, and the guitars ride that groove through multiple ebbs and flows until everything eventually fades out. These might be the shortest six minutes of your day.

Go ahead and read up/spend up over at Beyond Beyond is Beyond.