Petyr - Petyr album review

This San Diego heavy psych unit are fronted by pro skater Riley Hawk, son of skateboarding legend Tony Hawk and unsurprisingly the music is a sunny post-skate session of stoned, heady jams, cosmic nod-inducing pulsations and expeditions to higher realms. Inspired by neighbours Earthless as well as the energy and excess of a pro skating lifestyle, Petyr’s music builds from a backbone of a Sabbathian swagger and steadily builds up intensity with hard-hitting percussion, driving Hawkwind and Groundhogs-style clamour, creating a superbly far-out fuzz. Moments of spaced-out lazy calm balance proceedings before heading back into frantic passages of grinding bluesy bounce and the weirdly winding, Eastern rhythms of Japan’s Flower Travellin’ Band in the form of a satisfying rendition of their Satori Part III. Largely instrumental with only sparse vocals subtly buried in the mix, Petyr is a well rounded, proto-metal psych debut that will satisfy any stoner or skater.