Seedy Jeezus have the best rock’n’roll merchandise around, from clothing, to trinkets to household items, all baring the evocative designs of guitarist and vocalist Lex Waterreus (aka Mr Lex Frumpy). And Seedy Jeezus have got some killer rock’n’roll riffs as well, a holy collage of Tony Iommi, Dave Gilmour, Eric Clapton, Josh Homme and Dave Wyndorf.
You can hear it all – and plenty more – on Seedy Jeezus’s sixteen minute, one-track EP, Echoes in the Sky. Originally conceived as a studio jam, the track opens with a swaggering Sabbath riff winding its way through a psychedelic haze, a quest for stoner rock meaning in a spiritually confused world. The clouds part and there’s a glimpse of the bridge Pink Floyd built between the lysergic excursions of 1968 and the stadium rock indulgence of 1975. Three minutes in, and Seedy Jeezus are wandering toward the light of prog rock; noodling guitars, subliminal bass rhythms and heavy atmosphere. Your cerebral cortex is working overtime and you’re on a trip through cosmic rock consciousness.
The rhythm picks up and you’re shooting through space, immersed in metaphysical concepts that would send Brian Greene into freak out. Guitars wail like psychedelic banshees, and shit’s getting seriously weird. And then it calms down, like the time you took too much acid and some old bearded bloke talked you back down from the proverbial ledge. You raise your eyes and you’re looking across the placid waters of contentment, punctuated with the occasional sonic explosion. We’re back to the opening riff, now weathered and bruised from its long journey. The song ends, and you’re in a better place than you could have ever imagined.
Oh, and the EP comes on etched vinyl, too. Who else has a record with such attention to artistic detail? No one but Seedy Jeezus, that’s who. Miss this record at your peril.
BY PATRICK EMERY
