5 out of 5

Produced by: Josh Hanson, Mike Lastra

Label: Road Cone

Existing somewhere on the Pelt spectrum of long-winded ragga devotionals – though stemming from art-rockier club Irving Klaw Trio – Hochenkeit, despite having a song title like Smokin’ the Astronaut, waft some of the weed smoke out of the room so they can get down to business.  Songs can still range into the 7+ minute crowd, but there’s a sense of focus here I don’t always find in the more improv-guided Pelt and their ilk.  This gives I Love You a fascinating sense of drive, surging ‘neath the seemingly calm textures.  Of course, the ragga thing is only part of the puzzle: the group finds inspiration in a miasma of styles and instrumentation, blending their sound into drone and mystical soundscapes, interspersed as 2-4 minute experiences between the more organic long-players.

Out of the outre, psychedelic scene in which Hochenkeit dabbled, they thus positioned themselves rather uniquely, neither falling exactly into the open-ended rock ensemble format of Road Cone labelmates Jackie-O Motherfucker or Rollerball, nor exactly the blissed out jam band as implied by the Pelt callout, although equally appealing to both genres.  I Love You maintains this edge as a wholly considered recording, somehow broad and deep and yet brief, the album over much too soon as that burbling momentum drives one’s ears to pay closer attention, and absorb every slight shift, pause and twist the disc offers.