Posted on: October 25, 2012 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

 

Hot Air has so much going on that the track will require listeners to give it multiple spins before they can feel as if they have gotten everything that Time and Energy has placed into it. Whether it is the overall jam feel to the effort, the jazz-influenced drum lines, or the emotive horns, Time and Energy have ensured that there is something for everyone. Breakdown slows things up; Time and Energy is able to tie together dark and light nicely. Split Clean adopts a shambling, shuffling free jazz styles that adopts a psychedelic sound and its fringes.

The effort feels much larger than its constituent parts, while the track is moved into an entirely different realm, full of echoing and atmospheric sounds. Strange Kind of Focus is built off of 10 distinct tracks, but the band is talented enough to make everything work. O’Molly is the track that will be picked up by radio rotation; the allure of alternative acts like The Flaming Lips and Cake is married to the utter dirtiness of early Rolling Stones, Velvet Underground, or The MC5.

The track may end slightly after the two minute mark, but the track will stick with listeners long after the album continues to spin on. Acid Jam is the final track on Strange Kind of Focus, and it keeps with the trend experienced in O’Molly. During O’Mollym, the vocals move to front and center. While the swirling eddies of guitar lines and martial drumming are assertive, they never threaten to overwhelm the inimitable vocals. Give a few tracks your time and see whether Time and Energy is something that you can appreciate; I feel that Strange Kind of Focus has more legs than other current titles.

Top Tracks: Thought Forms, Sitting on a Scale

Rating: 8.4/10

Time and Energy – Strange Kind of Focus (CD) / 2012 Self / 10 Tracks / http://www.timeandenergyband.com/ / www.facebook.com/timeandenergy

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