• Elf Freedom
    Pow Magazine

    Elf Freedom Double Album Review by Bird of the Phoenix Movement 

    Elf Freedom | Solstice 2024 Elf Freedom informs us that “all songs are channeled from the Elf Dimension”. So what happens when you spiral into this dimensional rabbit hole?  Intro track ‘Treasure Underground’ is like an invitation to plug into the benevolent Borg; if you psychically answer this invitation, where will this mystery trip take you? Vocals weave together the new century essence of Nico with a hypnotic rhythm section and extenda-vibe guitar, surging the echoes of the dreaming amps. Space synth keeps percolating through the mix, encouraging the listener to look up, up, up through the ever-expanding Milky Way. Back on Planet Earth, witness Jimi Hendrix and early era Pink Floyd jamming in a deep forest…

  • The Spiral Electric
    Pow Magazine

    The Spiral Electric

    A lot of bands get softer as their careers progress. Whether that’s due to the righteous anger of youth fading, record companies and producers “sanding off the rough edges” for commercial radio, or just the members getting old, it’s an annoyingly common career trajectory. The Replacements, Cheap Trick, pretty much every punk band that went “New Wave”…heck, even the mighty Led Zeppelin’s last album is pretty flaccid, if you’re willing to admit it. So it’s a pleasure to report that the San Francisco band The Spiral Electric have bucked this trend, and grown steadily heavier, in live and on record, since their earliest incarnation. While they were never exactly “soft” in their…

  • Dead Visions
    Audio,  Pow Magazine

    Pow Magazine Music Audio Premiere: Dead Visions | Take My Hand

    Pow Magazine Music Audio Premiere: I’m excited to share that Dead Visions has just released their new single, “Take My Hand.” This is the second release from their upcoming album, “Myself,” which is set to drop at the end of the year. For those unfamiliar, Dead Visions is an Italian rock band led by the multi-talented Francesco Mandelli, also known as Nongio. While their 2020 debut LP, “A Sea Of Troubles,” had a distinctly garage punk sound, “Take My Hand” showcases a new direction for the band. This melancholic ballad, with its rich arrangements and expansive sound, hints at the more personal and inspired direction of the forthcoming album. “Take…

  • Swirlpool - Distant Echoes
    Music Reviews,  Videos

    Swirlpool | Distant Echoes

    After forming in 2017, and releasing an EP and two singles, this is the German shoegaze band’s debut LP. Mixed by Ride’s Mark Gardner, the album has a ’90s “classic” shoegaze feel to it, with all the trademarks of hushed vocals, whammy bar tone bending, reverb and distortion, but with the band’s new 21st century take as well as their other songwriting influences. All the tracks do have that lush tapestry of production on the whole album. The band has some cool videos to match their sound as well. The opening song, and album name, “Distant Echoes” has a deep, slow-moving distortion wave feel to it, setting the tone for…