YAWNING SONS / WATERWAYS (s/t) Split 7"

This 7" was released at the beginning of 2011 thru the new Belgian label Space Age & Cheesecake Records, but it's never to late to churn out some good words about this heavyweight 70 gram platter. If the name YAWNING SONS arouse connotations of Yawning Man then not without a reason, because original founding member Gary Arce is part of YAWNING SONS. 'Sons' refers to the band Sons Of Alpha Centauri of which all four members are among the line-up of YAWNING SONS. It should therefore be clear that YAWNING SONS is a collaboration between the aforementioned bands and the included exclusive track, 'Garden Sessions I', is not so far removed from their musical homes. In concrete terms, this means that it will calm you down and make you relaxed. There are no vocals and the song trickles like sand over dunes and grass. I really like it, but it seems to me a little too short. Maybe it would have been better to print it on a 12". But anyway, this is a cool song that creates the desire for more.

The next band is WATERWAYS and, once again, Gary Arce is involved as well Mario Lalli, who is definitely one of the most important musicians of the Palm Desert scene. Together with Scott Reeder (ex-The Obsessed, ex-Kyuss), he played in Across The River but this is only one station in his long musical career. Of course, he was also in the line-up of Yawning Man, so that is not the first cooperation between Lalli and Arce. WATERWAYS is supplemented by drummer Tony Tornay who has played drums in Fatso Jetson since more than a decade. Well, enough background history - it's about time to write a few words about the two songs, 'Bows & Arrows' and 'Memorial Patterns'. As with YAWNING SONS, the music is very laid-back and peppered with psychedelic and surf music ingredients. Especially 'Memorial Patterns' is a wonderful tune and the band manage with ease to combine different styles. Soundwise flawless, rhythmically resilient: WATERWAYS attitude is dreamy, constantly round and precisely accurate. Their music is capable of giving people's psyches a boost. All in all, a very tasteful release.

(KK)