Skullactic Visions – Tracklisting
1.Cold Smoke
2.Beyond the Trees
3.Skullactic Visions
4.Buried
5.Hill Bomb
6.The Slow Down
7.Final Ride
Members
Drums: Brady Maurer
Guitar/Vocals/Synth: Anthony Gaglia
Bass: Kenny Coombs
Review
LáGoon return with a new line-up and a more grown-up sound on perhaps their best sounding record to date with Skullactic Visions. The album is dedicated to Todd Maurer with the band saying “a loving father and friend, and the biggest fan our band will ever see.”
A lovely gesture to a close family member of drummer Brady Maurer.
Skullactic Visions is raucous collection of songs with LáGoon showing their years of experience playing gigs and releasing past albums and becoming a much better band. This is the bands 6th release and without doubt the best thing they’ve released and showing a more mature “Skate Punk” rebellious Sludge/Stoner Rock nature.
Opening song – Cold Smoke – is a Punk fuelled odyssey with elements of gloomy based rock branching into Stone/Street Punk grooves. The song is fast-paced and is quite an upbeat number before the band add flashes of Prog Rock and Classic Hard Rock riffs. The production is excellent and LáGoon revel in their “new-found” wave of music.
Second song – Beyond The Trees – starts very loud with a slowly distorted doomy riff before the rest of the band come into play and join the party. The downbeat atmosphere is gloomy with a cool “Indie” feel to it. The music moves along at it’s own pace with that “Street Punk” sensibility allowing LáGoon to bring a “Garage Rock” escapism to the whole feel and sound of the record. Anthony’s vocals take on the role of “storyteller” and demented “ring-master” with the different vocal styles and lyrics contained on the song. Perhaps the standout song on the album.
Third song – Skullactic Visions – isn’t too far behind being the “standout” song on the album with it’s “off-kilter” style of Doom, Stoner and Psychedelic Rock. The seedy 60s/70s Psych Rock nature of the song lends itself to early-era Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats but with more menacing results. The dirty atmosphere is one of the best parts of this song as LáGoon convey a serious tone and nature on this song whilst still having demented fun with everything.
LáGoon continue well into the 2nd half of the album perfecting their style of gloomy and seedy Doom/Stoner Rock without almost a care in the world. The band excel on the more adventurous songs such as: Hill Bomb, The Slow Down and Final Ride.
Skullactic Visions is must-have record if you’re a fan of LáGoon. If this is your first time to LáGoon’s dark world then this album is the best record to start with.
Excellent and Highly Recommended.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to LáGoon for the promo. Skullactic Visions will be available to buy from April 16th 2021 via Interstellar Smoke Records (Vinyl) and Forbidden Place Records (CD & Tape)
Links:
Facebook | BandCamp
