Sons of Hippies – Griffons at the Gates of Heaven (2013)

Groovy, spacey, psychedelic are a few words that come to mind when listening to Sons of Hippies and their latest full-length release titled “Griffons at the Gates of Heaven”. Mixing Psychedelic/Space Rock influences with Post Shoegaze and a very catchy Alternative Rock foundation, this three piece band delivers 12 superb tracks that take the listener through a trippy journey. With authentic retro instruments like a mellotron and moog paired with a sitar and some weird audio oscillations, the band has a wide spectrum of appeal for fans of any of the previously mentioned genres.

Setting a very unique mood in the trippy opening “Forward”, we are immediately intoxicated by the catchy guitars and Katherine Kelly’s signature vocals. The band’s auditive exploration continues with the hypnotic “Mirrorball”, one of our favorite tracks of this release. The atmosphere of this track is magical thanks to the ethereal backing vocals and shoegaze-ish vibe. The guitar driven “Dark Daisies” shows more of the band’s versatile songwriting skills, in a very unique and oddly constructed song.

The band’s Alternative/Indie Rock side comes very strongly in the catchy “Rose”, a song that has wide appeal and a very engaging melodic nature. Things start getting weird(er) on the cosmically intoxicating “Spaceship Ride”. Katherine’s vocals nicely offset the Post-Rock/Shoegaze elements and lead this song to extreme awesomeness. Another one of our favorite tracks has to be the hard rocking “Man or Moon” and its catchy vocal melodies. The music is quite engaging and very atmospheric, allowing the release to flow very nicely.

“Magnets” is another very Alternative/Indie Rock track that is interestingly comprise of psychedelic elements, giving it a very different spin to anything else out these days. The heaviest riffs come with the tracks “Blood in the Water” and “Minute X Minute”, songs that sometimes border in the Stoner Rock genre, but never veer that much away from the band’s style thanks to the vocal arrangements in them. Our favorite track in this release is the lush “Animal Battle”, thanks to its sitar infused opening and magical atmospheric elements.

Closing the release with “Cautionary Tale”, the band nicely comes full circle in a very catchy and atmospheric release. Sons of Hippies are experts in layering guitars and atmospheric elements to very nicely complement their main vocalist talents. The vocal arrangements through this release are excellently crafted. The drums and percussions led by Jonas Canales are very well paced to allow the music to fully develop and create the band’s very unique sound. If you are looking for something trippy, atmospheric, and all around catchy and hard rocking, look no further and pick up a copy of “Griffons at the Gates of Heaven”.

Label: Cleopatra Records

Release: July 16th, 2013

Genre: Alternative Rock / Post-Shoegaze / Psychedelic Rock

Country: USA