White Orange     

Onawa

Made In China Records 2013

Portland's psychedelic rockers, White Orange return with a beautifully crafted 3-song EP.  The music is lush and varied without being overbearing which can be a hard feat to accomplish.  Yet somehow White Orange achieve it effortlessly.  The first track is Ehyeh, with is dreamy, surreal riffs that circle and float while the vocals drift in a haze.  The doom undercurrent is very evident but the song is allowed to breath as the whole track revolves around mesmerizing hypnotism, an effect that is similar to what Mazzy Star does with their compositions.  At the 3:52 mark the riffs shift and the song becomes more imposing while still remaining true to the laid-back trance style.  The calm notes that open Either Or remind me a bit of a soft Danzig though I can't rightly say why.  However, immediately after that the guitars pick up with a bouncier rhythm a hint of Alice In Chains and an accent of sorrow taints the music.  The power of the track becomes more pronounced as it draws towards its climax punctuated by the warped guitar solo that flows like a ghost across the final moments of the song.  The EP ends with the 11+ minute And I Leave The Circus.  Monstrous riffs rumble to life as the song gains momentum.  I am not super huge on the whimsical melodic touch they put over the main riff occasionally, but the tripped out desert guitar solo that colors the second half of the song is a nice touch.  It lends the song a certain mystical aura.  White Orange have created an EP of psychedelic and esoteric doom rock that focuses on rhythmic repetition to achieve an altered state of consciousness.  it's a magic carpet ride across the cosmos.