Sweet jesus did this record ever hit my stereo at just the right time because Lunar Jetman is making its third consecutive journey on my turntable as we speak (after listening to it a few times without noticing just how good the album is, maybe due to some preoccupation with something else), and to be perfectly honest, Pharaoh Overlord lays down what I would consider one of the coolest psych records (not saying that this is the group’s genre or whatever, it is the only word that pops into my head when describing them) that I have heard in a while; now, I fully realize that this crew has been at this music deal for a while (both as Pharaoh Overlord and with some of the people doing time with the estimable Circle amongst other projects), but Lunar Jetman is my first exposure to their wild sounds.
Thick and relentless with enough out there sounds to prevent it from falling into a parody of some type of doom or stoner schlock while the psychedelic aspects stay are kept from flying out of control, Lunar Jetman straddles a fine line in the best ways possible making for an album that no matter how hard I try, getting lost in its waves of riffs and far out sounds is a hopeless inevitability; whether it be the at times menacing “Rodent” with its pounding opening build up and riff or the smooth and laid back sounds of the two part “Cave Of Hair”. The hazy atmospheres that each song offers take it time to develop with some beefy riffs and some rather exquisite psychedelic kanoodling seem to hit all the right buttons to take listeners to far off places; if I did not have to get up and flip the records, there probably would be some form of waking dream going on when I listen to the record (because when I listen to the CD, it feels like I pop it on, blink, and the CD is over as is an hour or so of my life).
Quite simply, Lunar Jetman is a huge and welcome surprise; Pharaoh Overlord give one hell of a performance on the album (the recording also sounds so crisp and clear and distinct), and compositionally, the record is rather strong. Altogether, the album is well worth the duckets necessary to procure such a gem; Lunar Jetman is certainly a worthy experience that one can be lost in a trance like state given the requisite circumstance, and playing the album version feels every bit as ritualistic and engrossing as one might hope from such a record, and I cannot recommend it enough.
