WAND with HEATERS, SAFFRON SECT and SEX CLUB at the Silver Dollar (486 Spadina), Friday (April 3), doors 9 pm. $12. rotate.com, soundscapesmusic.com, ticketfly.com.
Like fellow L.A. psych-rocker Ty Segall, Wand are putting out records at a clip. Just two so far, but new full-length Golem (In the Red/God?) arrives barely six months after their Ganglion Reef debut, which was released on Segall’s label, God? Records.
“It’s not really that difficult to do,” says frontman Cory Hanson, in a van outside of Philadelphia. “It’s just time spent writing and recording and touring. If you’re devoted to that timeline, you can get anything done.”
For the new record, he and his bandmates wanted to move their psych rock in a more concise, heavier and more conceptually resolved direction. They hit on the idea of the golem after watching the 1920 German Expressionist silent horror film, The Golem: How He Came Into The World. In it, a rabbi summons a spirit to give life to a monster built from clay.
“The idea was to make a very heavy record about a very heavy idea. Since we’re super-new and just trying to get some footing in this crazy rock and roll musical world, focusing on one point felt like the most liberating thing we could do on a second record. Let’s just take this as far as it will go and make a really thick, riff-heavy record.”
But while Golem does indeed thunder and roar, it also weaves in experimental field recordings – the band made so many that Hanson guesses they’d be enough for an entire electronic record “that will never get released” – and frequently opens up into airy, beautiful passages that absolutely shimmer. Hanson chalks that up to producer Chris Woodhouse, who has engineered records by Thee Oh Sees, Wild Flag and, you guessed it, Ty Segall.
“I thought we were making a really ugly, bulbous record. Kind of swollen and gross and pussing. Like some gross bog. But Chris gives things this 70s sheen – he produced it like a Big Star record. That was really surprising but also really welcome.”
But first and foremost is the heaviness – especially live. So heavy and loud, in fact, that the band has had to start wearing earplugs when performing. They recommend that you do, too, if you’re heading to their Silver Dollar show.
“It would be smart,” he says. “Be responsible for your ears. Or, if you want to be irresponsible for your ears and body, well, that’s your thing.”
carlag@nowtoronto.com | @carlagillis
