This is the second space/psych-rock release from this Welsh group. This time they went to the USA to record it with the help of musicians there.

The album sounds like one continuous track, fuzzy sounding, spaced out and stoned; a real good trip for those seeking it. It may be hard to tell apart the different tracks but in overall, this is pleasant to listen to and certainly relaxing. While I was a bit afraid of hearing too much of jams and perhaps boring music (to my ears that is), I was actually pleasantly surprised, that while bearing the marks of their previous release, this one does a good job at keeping things interesting, groovy and entertaining, while not abandoning the stoner and psychedelic elements of the music. A track like Hazelnut for instance starts in a mellow fashion and builds up slowly in a repetitive manner and what can be termed, a “standard” psychedelic rock fashion with a fuzzy and crunchy sound. There is nothing too innovative about it and nothing too impressive, though it’s fun to listen to. But nothing that makes me want in particular to come back to listen to, unless I’m in the mood. Since variation in the music and in songs is something I appreciate, I also feared not to find it here. But in their own way, they do incorporate it into their music. The lengthy Manhole of the Universe for instance, presents a multi-part structure ranging from heavy stoned repetition to a nice and short melodic part to a laid back and slow ethereal section well suited to day dream to. There is also variation in the form of a breakout from their usual mold and style. Such is the case with the disco-theme in Dark Disko and the slow and more pensive track The Girl From The Future. A track like Glory Bee also presents a more direct and simplistic rock approach, with a nice blurred sounding guitar paving the way with cool effects enveloping it, creating a vast wall of sound and a warm hazy feeling.

My “issue” with Sendelica in the end is that I’m not sure I can tell apart their albums from each other, apart from the standout tracks that break the form of their style and that is exactly my point. A band can choose to stick with whatever they like and that’s great. If going for a generic psychedelic/stoner/space rock sound is enough for them, and people like it, that’s great. I enjoy listening to it, but this is not enough an “ear-grabber” for me to make me want to come back to these albums. If it’s a psych-rock album I want to listen to, I have other options.

What I personally would love to hear Sendelica do is take the roots of their sound, their psych/stoner foundation and twist it, make a sound of their own, make something memorable, and not just another album that reminds me of the former. And the way to go, can start with two of the tracks present here on this album: Dark Disko and Manhole of the Universe. The former presents a new approach, a new way to exhibit their sound. The latter shows them taking their current sound and introducing an added complexity parameter into it, thus making it more interesting and intriguing to listen to. These two are good starting point to build on. One can think of other ways to formulate their sound differently or present it in another appealing manner. These two can be expanded more and developed further to reach a fresh style for them. That is if they’re interested. But I hear in this release that they are already progressing in this sense. That they are in fact looking for new ways to express themselves and to create more varied and unique style of music. Creativity will determine if I’ll like their next album or not.
(Sonic Frontiers)