Vakunøht – Gagarin's Start
Former members of Senator and Bangtwister weave psychedelic tales of space travel, mysterious transcripts and alien parasites on this debut as, essentially a marriage of psych rock, sludge and stoner pop à la Torche. Gagarin's Start often makes for a thrilling listen, although they can occasionally lack that band's sharp bite when they opt for overly lengthy song structures – Ol George and Creep are guilty as charged.
Credit where it's due though: they make a rapturous din when they stick to their core sound; a concise blueprint of urgent low-end riffs, thrashy drums and cathartic howls on tracks like Far Far Away and (ahem) Squidshag, which makes their dalliances with murky background monologues and effects-heavy sprawling instrumentals all the more frustrating.
Luckily, they're on their game most of the time – hell, Orpheus sounds like Mastodon impersonating 13th Floor Elevators at their most spaced-out, which is no bad thing. Vakunøht have the potential to blow up like a supernova, if only they could show a touch more moderation.