Inner Space Quartet have recorded their debut LP. The change in format has provided the group greater freedom and finds them breaking out of the 3-4 minute confines of a 45, into some most excellent, sometimes epic extended jams. Personal included Brother Lee Skelly, members of The Bees, The Soundcarriers and cosmic pedal steel maestro Joe Harvey-Whyte.

While the funk of their 7” singles still provides the core of their music, expanded, the psyche now comes to the fore. Brother Lee tells me that during the sessions the band were consuming a diet of Arthur Russell, Gabor Szabo, The Beach Boys and CAN. Brian and Dennis Wilson are definitely here in the harmonies, though they also have more than a passing resemblance to J. Spaceman, Sonic Boom and Brightblack Morning Light. 

The opening Soleil-O, for example, is very much a trance-inducing “electric mainline / ecstasy symphony” – a la Spiritualized – ’cept it comes with a behemoth B-line and colossal crashing beats (1). Groovy and gated like ’60s psychedelia, its trippy twisted sine wave details paying tribute to the pioneering heyday of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop (2). 

Pass The Letter’s live, lithe bass riffs on King Jammy’s Sleng Teng rhythm, while its cymbals smash and slash like J. Saul Kane’s collages of kung-fu / Shaolin punches and kicks. Fighting their way to third-eye opening enlightenment, as garage nugget organ grinds. The distorted drums a boom-bap head-nod to David Axelrod and DJ Shadow. 

Soohn is stoner / space rock, shocked by eruptions of echo, dubwise drops and the odd Jimi Hendrix-esque lick. Death Valley Paradise tops these acid-fried axe solos with Augustus Pablo / Far East flavoured melodica. Adds a big gong / bong hit to finish. 

Szabo’s presence is also felt in places, in the Spanish leaning picking. Gold Horse is part Mexican gunslinger ballad, part Moroccan bazaar, lost between the Port Of Spain and Algiers. French female vocals flash by, in the fashion of The Liminanas’ punk Yé-yé. CAN however, must be the overriding influence, since the album as a whole is completely kosmische. Comper Cals is a seismic swirling raga. To my ears at least, twining, triplet-ing, ISQ with crews such as Treespeak and Stereolab spin-off Cavern Of Antimatter.

The closing Be What You Are (“the sun will find your light”) builds from an acoustic campfire group-chant / hug, accompanied by sitar and flute, to a full-on climatic, cathartic, freakout. Sirens, screams, fuzzboxes, feedback, crazy, congas, and ’70s Sci-Fi synths on a collision course with the unknown and straight through Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 stargate. 

Inner Space Quartet’s Transmitting From Higher Altitudes is out now on Dime Records. There will vinyl available in the new year. 

Don’t forget you can catch Brother Lee every other Sunday on Soho Radio. 

NOTES

1. The bass-lines throughout are huge, and pay homage to both Paul Simenon and Jah Wobble. 
2. I was asking myself, does it sound retro just because it’s real musicians using real analogue gear?