Heron Oblivion

photo by Alissa Anderson

Heron Oblivion are another transcendent case of the best of avant-garde and rock coming together for a truly joyful noise. The lineup is a mashup of players from Comets on Fire, Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound and Espers, but the unlikely magic of this musical meeting is something altogether separate from everything they’ve previously had a hand in.

The San Francisco-based quartet came together out of a shared love of psychedelic rock and all the noisy esoterica at its fringes, and like all true obsessives, they are not merely interested in one mode of operation. Some time spent with the digital stand-alone release of the extended jam “Funeral Funk 49” conjures up comparisons with the usual suspects of Flower Travellin’ Band, Sunburned Hand of the Man, and all the other mind-bending drone-rock pilots, but their single “Oriar,” off their upcoming self-titled debut on Sub Pop, is a folk-rock influenced tune in which Meg Baird’s limpid voice steers things more than Noel Von Harmonson and Charles Saufley’s twin guitar attack. A Celtic lilt sharing space with psychedelic pedal-stomping and furious cascading drums straight out of a High Rise record—it’s a concoction that’s alternately freeflowing and melodic, vicious and tremulous. Put simply, Heron Oblivion are one of those rare bands that please both sides of the aisle out of sheer love of music for its own sake. To get a glimpse of what their highly anticipated debut due in March will offer up, you can catch Heron Oblivion on the third day of Crystal Ballroom’s Sabertooth Micro Fest alongside Mikal Cronin, Built To Spill, The Quick and Easy Boys and Snakes. They’ll be playing Levitation Festival in Austin as well, if you happen to have the income lying around for that, too. This is the wild and accomplished originality the modern psychdrone scene has been missing for far too long—I hope it sticks around.

—Matthew Sweeney