Somebody get me a cheeseburger! The last artist to record a significant album entitled Brave New World was the Steve Miller Band back in 1969. It’s fitting that Intodown are the second, though we can’t quite figure out if they’re stuck in past or the pointing the way to the future. Perhaps it’s a bit of both on this loud and proud debut release. Helmed by guitar whiz Michael Clark, Intodown’s World is steeped in psychedelic meets D.I.Y. garage ethos. The guitar motifs which run through the mostly instrumental tracks recall many of the greats: Bloomfield, Hendrix, Zappa, Santana, David Gilmour, and Syd Barrett. The Intodown sound is raw yet refined, and the jams percolate with poly-rhythmic abandon. Lulio Guevara’s upper register bass chords provide the perfect counterpoint to Clarks’ sheets of sonic overdrive in “Revolution 2.” “Elevator” evokes long, lost B-movie soundtracks by way of its chromatic chord progressions, blotto trumpet solos and multi-layered unintelligible vocals. Whether it’s yesterdays news or a forecast for tomorrow, Intodown’s Brave New World is not to be missed.
--Tom Semioli
