Description
“Briefly, the regular ictus of a reverberating guitar and a low industrial hum float in, giving way to an insistent propulsive two-chord drive. Huge buzz saw bass churns its way through this heavy-progressive tune, all stern Fripp-ian chord changes and driving insistency, amidst the primal guitar sludge. Seompi then deliver the line that could act as a maxim for most of today’s rock-n-roll alterns (let alone those of thirty years past): “WE ARE LIVING ON THE THRESHOLD OF THE FUTURE AND INTERPRETATION OF THE PAST!!’ There You GO! But what’s truly great about this band are its subtle little twists and nods to more progressive and interesting song-structures – a brief middle-section key change comes on like early Flash. Thus, there is a wonderful mix of complexity and balls-out underground angst and we’re still on the first track, which then twists off into a kind of sonic vacuum,
twirling-infinite guitar patterns, before its abrupt end.” —www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung
Although they only released three singles in the early 1970’s, SEOMPI’s mystique has continued to grow throughout the ensuing decades. Three posthumous releases issued in the late 1990’s only added to Seompi’s aura — even though two were off speed and the third has been long out of print. This was the status quo for the past couple of decades until now with the release of “Guns In The Skies”. Starting off with the hard rocker “AWOL” and then spacing out with the fourteen minute unreleased opus titled “Synergy Squares”, SEOMPI takes you on a trip back to 1971 when Austin, Texas was the stomping
ground for their brand of Psychedelic Space Rock. Along the way a young Stevie Ray Vaughn must have seen SEOMPI perform ‘Voodoo Child’ because SEOMPI’s version is the Space Rock prototype against which all others measure. “Guns In The Skies” proves that Seompi ranks up there with all the other legendary Texas heavies such as The 13th Floor Elevators, The Zakary Thaks, ZZ Top, and Johnny Winter. MADE LOUD TO BE PLAYED LOUD.” Total Time: 62 Minutes. Previously Unreleased Recordings: Tracks 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8 , 9, 11.
“The year was 1970 and Dave Williams was done with his stint at one of Texas’s finest barbed wire facilities… the same path that had landed Roky Erickson at Rusk Stale Hospital had put Dave behind bars. Five years earlier, Dave was a founding member of the Headstones, McAllen Texas’s answer to teen angst driven rock music. Not content with being the usual ‘cover’ band, Dave began to write original tunes and worked long and hard in rehearsal sessions to perfect them. After releasing legendary singles on the Pharaoh label and being courted by numerous major labels, the band called it quits in 1968. Dave formed the short-lived band The Meat in 1969 just prior to his marijuana possession conviction that made him a guest of the State of Texas for the next year. Always an innovator, Dave formed SEOMPI as a three piece, ‘no guitar* band, with Dave and Patrick Rockhill on bass, and Bill Reid on drums. SEOMPI was an acronym for ‘Serf Expression On Musically Potential
Instruments” and a synonym for ‘loud’.”
1 AWOL (2:01)
2 Elijah (2:42)
3 Draggin’ At My Coattails (1:33)
4 Almost In The Whole (alt) (3:02)
5 And I Ain’t Seen Him Since (5:24)
6 Kittens (3:36)
7 A Question Of Nobility (6:33)
8 Do You Not Know (5:01)
9 Synergy Squares Guns In The Skies (13:46)
10 Sticky Situation “Roll Your Own” Rap-Sticky Situation (6:44)
11 Prelude (0:28)
12 Voodoo Child (Slight Return) (6:27)
13 Dirge For Jimi Hendrix (1:28)
14 Summers’ Comin’ On Heavy (3:22)
GENRE: Heavy Rock/Space Rock
BARCODE: 845121027518
RELEASE DATE: 28/06/2024
