Cardinal Fuzz and Feeding Tube Records have the pleasure of unleashing the sizzling contact high sounds of Yerba Mansa's new LP release -- Gravity's Joke. As the heppest of you undoubtedly know, Yerba Mansa are Edwin Stevens (Irma Vep, Klaus Kinski, The Web of Lies) and Andrew Cheetham (Richard Dawson, Jane Weaver, Waterless Hilss). Both have been members of Desmadrados Soldados de Ventura, and are purveyors of raging, mind-bending primitive garage infused Middle-Eastern free-rock psychedelia. Showcased here is Edwin's mesmerizing guitar playing, capable of conjuring sonic specters from thin air and Andrew's limitless drumming, rooted in jazz and totally mesmerizing in fluidity and movement. Within Gravity's Joke, the grooves are some of the fiercest apocalyptic and heady jams you will hear this year. Yerba Mansa whirl up demonic raga meltdowns which showcase their individual chops and duo telepathy; the guitar vernacular is pure Sharrock/Flower/Quine -- indeed the tuning sounds like it could be ostrich, and the drumming is more octopus. Side two is a near 20-minute mystical freak out. The whole shebang could and should implode at any time, but doesn't. It hangs together somehow as melodies appear out of the chaos, and the title track relentlessly builds up to a shamonic climax, akin to stumbling across a Voodoun ritual in the American Plains. Sizzling, stifling and ever so slightly ear-scraping -- this is a must for any lover of untamed music.
