The debut release from David Novick and Jerry Encoe, (formerly of RESIDUAL ECHOES), finds these meter-melting redliners exploding with a palette drenched in noise-filtered psychedelia, pseudo-expressionist flurries of tube-reverb stomp loops and pop melodies shimmering beneath a murky layer of feedback squalls. Originally released on KDVS Recordings, out of Davis, CA.
500 LPs. KDVS005. Hand-screened covers. $10
To purchase a digital copy please visit http://sfwc.bandcamp.com/
Side One
1. Rocker's Escape
2. Bertha Roentgen's Left Hand Ring
3. First Emergence
Side Two
4. Winter Otter
5. Goat Head Apparition pts 1, 2, 3
6. Down in Dry Creek
San Francisco Water Cooler - Rocker's Escape by SunSneezeRecords
"No one mentioned to us that the genius Santa Cruz band Residual Echoes had imploded, so imagine our surprise when we got the eponymous LP by SFWC, a band birthed form The Echoes' ashes. The album's formatting is a bit irksome (one side's 45, the other 33) making for much confusion among stoners, but the sounds are great. There's a very psychedelic whiff to the guitar, but it's all done inside a sorta neu-noise context that blends keys with gloop with whatsis in a truly modern way. Pretty amazing stuff." -- Byron Coley for Arthur Magazine.
"It's not just my hometown pride when I say that "Rocker's Escape" by San Francisco Water Cooler must be vaunted to the status of 'Decade-Defining Classic." --DJ Rick of Art For Spastics
"Six catchy psych songs layered with meandering guitar, wicked rhythm, horns and a helluva keen sense of ethereal beauty. "Rocker's Escape," a phenomenally great opener, boogies on through into the middle of the eardrum. Utilizing power-pop mannerisms with psychedelic execution, the band employs ragged layers of jangle guitar, multi-track vocals and lo-fi sound reminiscent of early Sebadoh. Side A ends with a Godz tribute foreshadowing the second side wherein a jagged jug band somehow summons the spirit of Shiva, who promptly turns the acoustic instruments into contact mics, amps and mixers. "Winter Otter" sloshes through deep wetlands of battered grooves, eventually reaching an oasis of whispering slide guitars and echoing Syd Barrett's "Late Nite." The nomads then retread into the wild, piling their tasty licks on a spiky, oscillating IFCO synth fire to keep warm with "Goat Heat Apparition Pts. I, II and III." Closing track "Down and in Dry Creek" presents whirlwind organ and guitar pyrotechnics swallowing a jumpy British invasion melody. The tune showcases the album's strengths as it perfectly distills bubblegum garage and avant-garde psychedelic chunks into a potent stew." -- Apples and Heroin
