SONIC DICE - NOTHING TO SAYFormed in Lima, Peru back in 2003, Serpentina Satélite have been plugging away trying to crack into the European and US market. Their first EP, ‘Long Play’, according to their website, combined the genres of “space and krautrock”. There can be few that have heard it outside of Lima. However, recently they joined forces with the German Trip In Time label and that has enabled them to finally distribute via, World In Sound, to a wider audience. So, does their music travel well, further than the “underground festivals and freak-outs” of Lima?
The answer is an unequivocal “yes”. It all begins with ‘Nueva Ola’s warm buzz-sawed tones which feed into a host of looped acoustics. These slowly begin to form into hollow chimes that ripple outwards like a planetary pebble breaking the surface of some kind of vast cosmic lake. The bass picks out a cathartic rhythm and child-like whispers crawl into your conscious from unexpected angles. It’s an all-consuming psychedelic journey that the band are determined to take you on, whether you like it or not.
Once drenched in the experience it’s all marvellously laid-back, blues-infested rock with ‘Nothing To Say’ and star-turn ‘The Last Drop’ arriving to pump the blood around your brain. The latter plays like some kind of screwed-up Verve track but live it would have any fun-loving stoner in sheer ecstasy. The odd nuances of the vocal input and the tendency to stamp on the overdrive whilst leaning too heavily on the loop and delay effects, are mostly overcome by focussing on the sanguine solos which bend and arch continuously - they are the snakes, and this colossal trip is the grass through which they slither.
The mammoth 23-minute trawl of ‘Kommune I’ is pure jam material along the lines of an Earthless or a blissed-out Witch. It clambers all over you, diving into and out of your brain, maniacally tearing out riffs and effects, carelessly scattering remnants of strings that echo continuously, on and on. It’s all a bit odd and is way too jarring by the time it crawls towards the finishing line. Repeated sober listens will leave you reaching for the hammer. This band don’t care if they bleed a little and this bizarrely haemorrhaging freakshow is not for the feeble.
Despite the over-elaborate beginning and ending, this is still worth grabbing onto. These guys must have been born stoned and this EP they’re peddling is the strong stuff - pure Peruvian - one sniff and like, Serpentina Satelite, you’ll be solid gone.
John Skibeat
www.sonicdice.com