planet of the 8s hysteria
planet of the 8s hysteria

Planet Of The 8sTourist Season

Independent
8 August, 2019
7
Incredibly Cohesive

Tourist Season is the second album from Melbourne-based desert stoner rock band Planet Of The 8s.

MORE: CARNIFEX: Visceral Dystopia // PLANET OF THE 8S: Into The Light REVIEWS: FREEDOM OF FEAR: Nocturnal Gates // THY ART IS MURDER: Human Target // CARNIFEX: World War X // SLIPKNOT: We Are Not Your Kind

Tourist Season is full-bodied enlargement of Planet Of The 8s 2017 debut self-titled album, and fans of their thick riffs, enticing grooves and quirky sense of humour will have plenty to love.

Tourist Season kicks off with Planet Of The 8s signature hearty, bass-rich grooves with 20 And 20 Is 40, a hypnotic song that features the first of many rich-toned vintage-esque solos. Harking on the atmosphere of bands like Alice In Chains, tracks like You You You have punchy bass cameos, poetic lyrics and entrancing extended guitar solos. Vocalist Michael Sullivan moves into a grittier sound for the sultry nostalgic track Green Lake, as it moves journey-like through different textures and dynamics. The vintage vibe just under the surface of Tourist Season turns psychedelic in the bouncier-yet-transcendent track The Epic Space Adventures of the Intergalactic Guru, showcasing Planet Of The 8s playful ability to invoke an intriguing sense of narrative.

Planet Of The 8s’ smooth rolling-on composition style is effortless in its confidence, and this is certainly a band to watch.

Halfway through Tourist Season, the ever-unfolding track Christopher Walken In The Jungle With The Fkn Animals lands; a massive, detailed, track laden with at least four generous guitar solos of varying moods. This variety is in part supplied by guest artist Bob Balch, from renowned Californian rockers Fu Manchu, laying down a screamer of a solo here. One of the most captivating aspects of Tourist Season are the final two tracks, which while still in the laid-back spirit of the rest of the album, do turn slightly to heavier, murkier waters. Drive Through Jesus is stained with the twisted headspace and unsettling aura of earlier bands like Mad Season, and the final track Visions & Runaways has cleaner, deeper vocals with twinkling guitars, in a very low-rolling edgy groove reminiscent of Opeth’s Sorceress. These subtle twists in the tale reveal the depth behind the cruisier tracks, and turns Tourist Season from a rocking good time, into a piece of art that runs deeper beneath the surface.

Planet Of The 8s have an incredibly cohesive and well developed grasp on their sound. Tourist Season is a multidimensional album, while a relatively compact album at only seven tracks but it is dense and complex, and ideal for vinyl. Planet Of The 8s’ smooth rolling-on composition style is effortless in its confidence, and this is certainly a band to watch.

STANDOUT TRACKS: Visions & Runaways, Christopher Walken In The Jungle With the Fkn Animals, Drive Through Jesus
STICK THIS NEXT TO: Alice In Chains, Fu Manchu, Earthless


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