Potent and brooding bluesy hard rock Salem's Bend are an exciting new band coming straight at you from Ripple Music. This is the rare band who understand how to drown you in fuzz without going over the top. They take the magic of the 70s and infuse it with a modern sensibility and understand how to craft some truly exciting rock and roll. Their riffs remain tight, and though the execution isn't always perfectly clear, the layers of fuzz make the entire thing rather enjoyable. With half shouted vocals and throbbing bass lines, their debut conjures up potent images of other worlds and weird soundscapes that can't help but to leave you in a sort of secular haze. Salem's Bend is the sort of rock and roll statement that comes from a time forgot but wants to push to a bold new future. Able to tap into spacey Hawkwind-esque magic and then turn back into heavy rock and roll madness at the drop of a hat: these guys know what's up.
I think what gets me about Salem's Bend is the power behind each and every riff. Not only that but the band has a rather distinctive riffing style. Sure it fits into the traditional polemic that all of these revival psych rock bands touch on, but it also has a rather unique feel that comes through in the tone and the unique flavor of the timing. These guys phrase things in a refreshing new way and they know it. Though there isn't a whole lot of rock and roll swagger to be heard on Salem's Bend there certainly is a quiet and assured confidence behind the music that you feel in every song. The way that they ebb and flow, from faded out jams into crazed riffs almost reminiscent of Motorhead, shows the sheer skill that this band has and all that they can turn their sound into. This balance of dark and light is exciting but manages to maintain a solid vibe throughout the record, a vibe that lives on long after the last track wraps up.
While there are definitely new steps I'd like to see from Salem's Bend, they are a potent band, the kind of group who, when they play to their strengths seem like they could take over the world. It's exciting to see growers like this, bands who clearly have what it takes to keep the dream alive but who haven't quite fully realized all that they can and should represent. They have found their own path and are starting to create their own void, leaving me excited to delve deeper into what they can really go on to be. Ripple Music has signed some of the most exciting rock and roll of the last few years and Salem's Bend are a great example of this, a testament to a great label if there ever was one. It's the power of bands like Salem's Bend that keeps rock and roll vibrant in 2016. It shows us new sonic highways and unveils new futures. That's why we keep digging deeper and deeper, all for the love of fuzz.
Score: 7.5/10
