Carlton Melton - Resemble Ensemble [CD]

Carlton Melton, from Northern California, are now a practicing four-piece in the arts of melted-minds psychedelia. With the added kraut-oomph and sike-flutter of fellow Californian Anthony Taibi (whom you may know as being a member of White Manna, and also DDT with Andy) Rich Millman, Andy Duvall, and Clint Golden have now embellished the Carlton Melton sound. Pushing forward as a quartet, the band recorded Resemble Ensemble in July 2021 at Anthony's home studio, 3D Light in Freshwater, CA. Anthony did all the recording and mixing.The Melton Magick Karpet settled, and our favorite contemporary sikedelic warlods plugged in, amped up and let it flow-and flow it does-from the krautrock fuelled pszych-raga of "Prescribed Skies," the fluid dronescape of "Elsewhere" that welcomes you into it's arms with a warming tone, almost a missing Spacemen 3 demo at the feast here. "So The Story Grows" has the drone scraping through a murk of dazzling feedback and pummel, with the fuller sounding Melton giving the genre a proper wobble, hold on to your brains people. "High Alert"-whas this? Synth and guitar interplay jambusting, this is the Melton wigging out and almost interweaving 70s high table rock with some odd and downright perverse synthfunkpunk rhythms. Get weird or get wired-or both. Easily done here.. Closing out the album with "Route Thirteen" is the road trip home. They've been, they've massaged and mangled your synapses, plug in the satnav and take the higher-route home, if you get our drift.