Brian Jonestown Massacre Are Back

Hands up...who has not seen the movie Dig? Ok you three over there...shut down your computer, head over to Netflix, watch it right now and then come back to this review once it's done. The rest of you who know and appreciate Brian Jonestown Massacre and it's frontman Anton know what records from BJM are like, what they can be like, and what goes into them. That philosophy and approach seemingly is still true but what's really impressive about their new album Aufheben is just how different it sounds.

While Aufheben is still very much a rock and roll record and fueled by the band's garage prowess, they've expanded their sounds, textures, and vibes so much it's truly impressive. Aufheben is a psychedelic rock and roll record that's post-shoegazing, chanson, rock and roll, prog, and just about everything else. It's an expansive, huge sounding record that's musically fascinating and exciting to listen to. Anton has a vivid imagination and it's evident all over Aufheben. Songs seemingly stretch on for days and wander the galaxy on a space jam of epic proportions and then fall back to earth for a seductive night with the French. Imagine Stereolab mixing it up with a bunch of hippified prog rockers and you have a good idea of where this album is flying in from. In a word, Aufheben is awesome.

With all kinds of instruments, spacial guitars, lots of riffs that linger, driving beats, vocals from the outer reaches of space and songs that are mystical, mysterious, and out of this world Aufheben is an amazing effort by BJM. Anton has really out done himself here with a cohesive but free roaming series of jams that rock as much as they warp through space. It's so good that it sounds as if things within the world of the Brian Jonestown Massacre might be stable enough to allow this record to kick a little butt. Easily on of their best and quite potentially one of my favorites on 2012, Aufheben is a great record.