Following a more back-to-basics, less psychedelic third full-length in 2020's
A Wave of Golden Things
,
Tall Tall Trees
'
Mike Savino
spent some time while forced off the road due to the COVID-19 pandemic building out a home studio and further modifying his uniquely tricked-out six-string electric banjo (at this point dubbed the Banjotron 6500). While also working on writing new material, and eventually playing out a bit, he did a series of studio collaborations, including a single with
Joyful Noise
labelmates
El Ten Eleven
and an experimental bluegrass album with
J.D. Pinkus
(
Butthole Surfers
Melvins
). When the time came to record new solo tracks in his by then completed basement studio, he enlisted the help of drummer
Josiah Wolf
Why?
). The two quickly got so into improvising together that they started recording jam sessions and working up the results, with
Savino
ultimately scrapping prepared songs. With its music credited to
and
Wolf
, and lyrics and vocals by
' genre-bending, ardently psychedelic fourth album,
Stick to the Mystical I
, is an impulsive, trippy, and tuneful affair rooted in
's familiar looping techniques yet full of spontaneity. The album was mixed and mastered by none other than
Kramer
, who produced the
Pinkus
collaboration. "So Let Them Come" gets the party started with the Banjotron equivalent of an orchestra tuning -- what sounds like low upright bass, bowed banjo strings, sped-up loops of the latter, and more -- before a looped electric banjo riff, likely banjo-head hand percussion, and skittering drum kit lock into a groove. Confrontational lyrics call for allyship as animated rhythms and continual interjections (effects, backing choruses, and more) keep the track always living and breathing. Unpredictably, that song is followed by an oddball jazz instrumental ("A Finger Pointing at the Moon"), one of three instrumentals here, each of a different musical character (including the inexplicable, not-to-be-missed psych-lounge closer, "Groupon Massage"). While unpredictability may be a defining characteristic of
, the set nevertheless has the warm, inviting quality that marks all
originals. That's true even of the melancholy, delay-heavy "Castle in the Sky," which involves a vehicle breakdown and nighttime commute on foot, but especially of contagious, upbeat anthems like "Feel Good!" ("It doesn't really matter what you look like if you feel good") and the aptly titled "This Is Just a Mountain Song" ("I can't stop smiling"). Surprisingly elaborate for being the work of two (with "additional elements" by
Sleeping Bag
's
David Woodruff
), the album subtly dazzles as it relates, uplifts, and likely leaves fans wanting more. ~ Marcy Donelson