If an all-instrumental band uses the adjective legendary in cahoots with its description shortly before touting Grateful Dead as an influence, it’s almost guaranteed to sandbag any actual listening experience. Fortunately, Plankton Wat wined and dined my initial shallowness away before the third track.
Review: Plankton Wat – Drifter’s Temple
National Music Reviews
Plankton Wat
Drifter’s Temple
Thrill Jockey
Street: 09.17
Plankton Wat = Godspeed You! Black Emperor + Daniel Higgs
If an all-instrumental band uses the adjective legendary in cahoots with its description shortly before touting Grateful Dead as an influence, it’s almost guaranteed to sandbag any actual listening experience. Fortunately, Plankton Wat wined and dined my initial shallowness away before the third track. For starters, this album seems like a bizarrely functional marriage between patterned new age guitar fillers and dusty American blues folk. Secondly, it’s almost too easy to get lost in the tracks. In “Klamath at Dusk,” the knotty acoustic guitar picking paired with the sharp electric guitar arpeggios creates a beautiful and paralyzing trance. Other tracks, like “Hash Smuggler’s Blues,” can easily rob your mind of any consciousness with its narcotizing locomotive buzz intertwined with the heavily reverbed guitar work. With Drifter’s Temple and a pair of earbuds, you can quickly make yourself feel lonely even in the most crowded rooms. –Gregory Gerulat
Drifter’s Temple
Thrill Jockey
Street: 09.17
Plankton Wat = Godspeed You! Black Emperor + Daniel Higgs
If an all-instrumental band uses the adjective legendary in cahoots with its description shortly before touting Grateful Dead as an influence, it’s almost guaranteed to sandbag any actual listening experience. Fortunately, Plankton Wat wined and dined my initial shallowness away before the third track. For starters, this album seems like a bizarrely functional marriage between patterned new age guitar fillers and dusty American blues folk. Secondly, it’s almost too easy to get lost in the tracks. In “Klamath at Dusk,” the knotty acoustic guitar picking paired with the sharp electric guitar arpeggios creates a beautiful and paralyzing trance. Other tracks, like “Hash Smuggler’s Blues,” can easily rob your mind of any consciousness with its narcotizing locomotive buzz intertwined with the heavily reverbed guitar work. With Drifter’s Temple and a pair of earbuds, you can quickly make yourself feel lonely even in the most crowded rooms. –Gregory Gerulat
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