Are these unreleased tracks from a supposed victory in Saigon? Temporal appropriation, like Vietnam, is such a senseless war; so let’s move on and just get with the Woodstock worthy release Free from WolveSpirit.
By managing to juxtapose peace with glory, these guys turn Black Sabbath-induced heavy metal riffs into a mandala of post-classic tunage. WolveSpirit’s Free is retro enough to be ahead of the times and grooves big slabs of psychedelica, laying down the feeling of rock activism. Free is innocent and loving it.
Hammond organs mixed with the blues dance hypnotically with a more sober and articulate Janis Joplin. The express way to describe these beautiful riffs is to compare them to Wolfmother but with feeling. Except WolveSpirit say something more composite than objectifying sexuality.
WolveSpirit’s Free isn’t a throwback sixties album, although at a glance the tools they use might make it sound like it. There’s a lot of modern riffing interpreted into their atavistic sound. The touch of crusty American country music works so damned well that you’d be forgiven if you thought this was a lightweight Clutch album.
There’s a drive, almost a mode, that this album inspires. It’s chill, it’s fun and it’s historical. It sounds like a super group from the sixties and it makes me wish Clone High was still on TV.
10/10
