Somali Yacht Club – The Space

Somali Yacht Club – The Space
Release Date: 22nd April 2021
Label: Season of Mist
Bandcamp
Genre: Psychedelic Stoner Rock, Post-Rock, Post-Metal.  
FFO: Isis, Cult of Luna, Pelican, Nothing, My Sleeping Karma.
Review By: Hillary Wisniewski

For those who are not familiar: Somali Yacht Club (SYC) are a trio that hail from Ukraine. They began their musical journey in 2010 and were recently signed by Season of Mist to release The Space as well as their back catalog. According to the press release, SYC“musically embodies the boundless, wide-open, quiet/loud spaces that atmospheric post-rock and metal occupy.” From this description my interest was piqued and after listening to the album I can honestly say that I was not disappointed. The Space is best described as a dreamy and melodic wall of sound. This is not to say that it is not heavy-it most certainly has those moments-but it is complex and generally a gorgeous listen. SYC weave together a tapestry of airy guitar paired with churning rhythm and definitely the kind of fuzz that psychedelic and stoner rock fans will enjoy. SYC do an excellent job of combining these elements and executing a generally dense sound. While listening to this album, there was a mesmerizing quality to it; you can put this on your turntable and easily get lost in it. This most certainly is not an easy feat to achieve, and especially in a day and age in which our attention is pulled in numerous directions. 

The diversity of sound and tempo on this record keeps it interesting and the flow of it works quite well. There is truly an enjoyable interplay between aspects that are sludgy with more clean sounding elements. Keyboards were used sparingly, but enhanced the overall sound. SYC successfully execute the juxtaposition from the light, dreamy elements to heavy walls of distortion. Many of the tracks go back and forth between these dynamics, while the galloping and strong rhythm section sets a nice pace. I certainly don’t want to neglect the vocals on this album-they are quite good. There is almost a mantra-like quality to them, which fuels the sense of time and space dropping away while you get lost in the layers of sound. Lyrically there is a sense of melancholy and, although there is no theme to this album per se, much of the lyrical content involves a sense of loss. At times listening to this took me back to a simple time of hot summer nights, lying on my bedroom floor in the dark, listening to Sonic Youth and having the world fall away. That feeling of being washed over by music is truly something that I cannot adequately put into words, but there were moments on The Space that took me to that place, and it was quite lovely.

(4.5 / 5)