3 out of 5

Label: Tip Top Recordings

Produced by: Kristian Bell

Ya got yer surf rock guitar, yer psychedelic haze, and some space rock boogie, and sometimes those work together on Japanese Television’s Space Rock Vineyard, but sometimes not, with the band playing a core riff in one mold, and then kind of casually sprinkling on the other genres as ill-fitting fixins. While I recognize that there are probably way more bands doing a surf-rock mashup thing than I realize, it’s hard not to think of a few mainstays, and in this case – Man or Astro-Man. MoA surely leans way more toward rock than Japanese Television – who work with a much more laid-back vibe, sticking to a psychedelic groove as their backing – but the group had, over the course of many albums, found ways to keep their shtick moving along and, within degrees, exciting. That element felt a bit lacking for me with JT, whose tracks mostly jam along without much pep, and their more rocking tunes – of which there are several! – tend to end short of really pushing things. There’s then the comparison of how the two bands mix and match surf with other things, and even if, again, MoA was different – more shticky – their blend of sci-fi rock and surf worked, whereas JT’s attempts to crossover, as suggested, feel a bit clunkier.

That said, there’s definitely plenty that works on Space Rock Vineyard, and especially when they do nail the blend of psych washes with surfy drumming / playing and a bit of ooky space guitars on top: Mosquito Dance Routine and Sputnik Swimming are solid all around, with moments from various tracks throughout at least featuring breakouts that work for flashes at a time. Moments and flashes dominate: the live-to-tape recording style gives the whole album a feel of warming up, with less-defined tracks acting as jams until they can get to their singles, but by the time the band really starts to cook – perhaps not uncoincidentally at the end of each side of the LP – they also cut and run even more harshly, the tracks ending rather prematurely.

The comfort the band has playing with one another, and taking their time to get to stronger songs, is promising, but I do wish there was a bit more willingness to indulge a bit throughout the album, and also maybe less of a need to fit their own press of being a “space surf band” and just let the music drive things instead.