Wand
Ganglion Reef
GOD?/DRAG CITY
7/10
Your initial reaction might be to toss this one onto the fiery pyre of neo-psych-stoner-rock amassing in the corner—the third track is titled “Fire on the Mountain (I-II-III),” for Calcifer’s sake—but upon each additional listen, the smoke clears (or thickens, depending) and Ganglion Reef is reborn in the blaze. The Los Angeles four-piece has ties to Ty Segall (it’s on his awesomely titled Drag City imprint, God?), which should be all the recommendation you need to check this out. The disc spaces out in its own epic jamming from time to time (the aforementioned “Fire on the Mountain”), but when Wand comes down out of the fog, the results are as lucid and satisfying as “Flying Golem” and “Generator Larping.” The incendiary burn is long, but please don’t save us from the flames.
