Music > Album Reviews

Turtle Skull - Monoliths

27/08/20

Here we go, another album that I have picked-up on a whim by a band I know nothing about because I like their name… and it is a bit of a corker. The Aussie quintet describe this second LP as being about the intimate connection we share with the Earth, our place in the world, life and death and everything in between and life-changing psychedelic journeys. I dunno about all but I can say that, without ever really doing anything truly new, Turtle Skull have created something original.

Imagine the harmony vocals of the Byrds and Fleet Foxes over the psych of Black Mountain and Acid Mothers Temple with a bit of Blue Öyster Cult and Dio-era Sabbath classic rock thrown in and you will be getting close to Turtle Skull’s sound. Some of the songs – Leaves, recent singles Rabbit and Why Do You Ask? – have enough melody and pop sensibility to break the band into the mainstream but never lose that heaviness. Meanwhile, the likes of Heartless Machine and The Clock Strikes Forever are bruising psychedelic jams, 2020 takes on the template established by Hawkwind. 

This album rewards repeated listening and the more I play it, the more I like it