The Asteroid No.4 – These Flowers Of Ours: A Treasury Of Witchcraft And Devilry

 

The Asteroid No.4 – These Flowers Of Ours: A Treasury Of Witchcraft And Devilry

By

Jesse E. Mullen

 

Some albums are summer albums. Some are winter ones. But albums suited for the fall are a special breed. As a time in between the optimism of summer and the desolate short days of winter, autumn is a season of sighing satisfaction. The last hurrah.

The Asteroid No.4 are the perfect soundtrack for this time. Their lazy, hazy sound recalls both The Byrds and Spacemen 3 in equal measure. But there is another key point of reference in their sound. The Nuggets box set is a CD collection anthologizing rare garage rock from the earliest psychedelic era.

As writer Jenell Kesler pointed out in Psychedelic Baby magazine, an obscure band from the 60s on the box set called The Chocolate Watchband has all the hallmarks of the Asteroid sound. Hazy, reverbed production, a keen interest in the surreal, and garage rock sound.

In 2008, The Asteroid released their sixth album. Entitled These Flowers Of Ours: A Treasury Of Witchcraft And Devilry, it promised to be another example of hazy drone and dreamy melody. But how does it stack up against their other work?

“Hold On” features a bluesy harmonica and a minor key mid-tempo electric guitar in the vein of The Brian Jonestown Massacre. As the track builds towards a dreamy climax, the band maintains its tempo. The three chords and dreamy harmonies of the chorus reach for the sky. And they know they don’t have to rush.

The Asteroids go a step further on “She Touched The Sky.” Starting out with an electric rhythm guitar part, the drums come crashing in with a lead guitar drenched in delays. The whole band is on their a-game, and it feels like a spiritual awakening.

Much like what The Verve were able to do on A Storm In Heaven, The Asteroids demonstrate that there is spirituality beyond theism. And that is the religion of music. It’s the kind of song where the listener must remind him or herself that this is in fact music made by human beings.

But perhaps “Let It Go” is the best of the bunch. A Rickenbacker guitar jangles similarly to The Byrds, and the drums come crashing in. Scott Vittorelli’s voice enters, describing a breakup that he can’t get over.

While contemporaries like The Parties were in full retro mode, The Asteroid mixed their influences with modern touches. When the lead guitars wash over the chorus, the song transitions to a shoegazing sound like that of Ride. 

The beauty of “Let It Go” is that it is both anthemic and reflective. Vittorelli relationship problems give the song an emotional center, but the music is optimistic. In this sense, it is the ultimate autumn song.

The Asteroid No.4 may not get the attention they deserve, but they have amassed a great back catalog of material. At the top of the pile is These Flowers Of Ours: A Treasury Of Witchcraft And Devilry. It’s mix of chiming guitars, bluesy harmonica, and vast soundscapes has something for all of life’s travelers.

The Committee To Keep Music Evil/2008