When you think about Michigan you don’t really associate it with garage/psychedelic rock. Our brains immediately go straight to motown. In past years that has changed immensely, and some rock n’ roll has been coming out of the Motor State.
The most recent of which has been psychedelic garage rock band, Heaters. Heaters has just come out with their debut album titled, Holy Water Pools and it is indie kid heaven. They are doing what people want to hear, but building on top of it and making their sound unique to what you might typically hear in the genre.
Heaters consists of members, Andrew Tamlyn, Nolan Krebs and Joshua Korf. Tamlyn and Krebs knew each other from high school, and later met Korf. Soon after meeting Korf they began working on music together and recording in their home studio. 2014 hits and the band is beginning to really take the scene and make their mark.
They’re spitting out EP’s left and right, playing shows, and doing everything to get their name out there. All the hardwork has paid off, and their first album is one that is setting the tone for the smaller garage rock indie circuit.
The opener, ‘Kamikaze’ has a slight Brian Jonestown Massacre vibe to it, and so naturally I fell in love with it. It’s a little bit droney and dreamy, but the vocals are a little more strong and have a louder presence about them. Like any good psych rock song it is filled with reverb and has the power to make you feel like you’re floating.
‘Master Splinter’ reminds me more of a surf rock song, which is always interesting to hear from a band that isn’t from the sunny state of California. Yet, they totally nail it and do it better than some surf rock bands out here. The instruments in each song, especially in this one sound like they are all synched, which is obviously the ultimate goal of any band, but here it is something more magical and they all coalesce into one within each other.
‘Hawaiian Holiday’ has a country-western vibe to it, which at first listen made me feel like it was a little out place, but I think that it actually helps the album breath, and take a break. It’s nice having a song that doesn’t have any lyrics sometimes to allow the listener a few minutes of an intermission to gather their thoughts. The tune’s instrumentals are enough to still make you feel emotion with galloping guitars and fast-paced drum beats, and a great deep bass. ‘Gum Drop’ is oozing with psychedelic dreams and echoing vocals.
The guitars take a step back here and slow down in order to keep up with the slow motion of the vocals. The vocals become a little bit deeper in this track as well, and it helps with making the song sound even soother. This is the groove that you would hear at a concert and everyone would be standing there eyes closed, swaying back and forth, and completely melt into the music.
The closing track ‘Dune Ripper” has a mixture of psych and surf rock and is glimmering with haunting vocals. It’s hard to understand the lyrics at moments, but that’s honestly kind of the charm with the song. It forces you to listen harder and find new things you like about the tune each time!
Heaters was a delightful surprise that restored my faith in the garage/surf/psych rock genre that everyone is trying to do right now. They completely own it and make it into something that is refreshing and new. They aren’t doing the same thing over and over again, and that it the most respectable part.