Nickie Harte Kelly
Psychedelic space rockers Mondo Drag are ot a new band, they are returning from an 8-year hiatus. The music here is very retro-psych, albeit more refined than the original species, and quite enjoyably so. The music is heavily laden, dense, and acidic, tastefully done, with dark, contemplative lyrics. No unnecessary pyrotechnics here, which is not to say that they aren’t complex and adept musically. Can you have sophisticated psych? Yes, you can.
Favorite track: Death In Spring.
Bucky
Such an airy, dreamy vibe that makes it easy to play in the background with a group of unsuspecting normies or in the car blasting with fellow music gurus. Total banger of an album!
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Purchasable with gift card
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Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
We don't know what color it will be...but it will be color! We have been letting the plant decide since it seems to allow us to get things in a timely manor. Limited to 500.
Includes unlimited streaming of Through The Hourglass
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
ships out within 3 days
edition of 500
Purchasable with gift card
$25.99USDor more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Limited to 500 on Black, housed in a heavy 24pt Jacket.
Includes unlimited streaming of Through The Hourglass
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
ships out within 3 days
Purchasable with gift card
$25.99USDor more
Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Oh Yea, like those little vinyl records, but it's a CD....get it?
Includes unlimited streaming of Through The Hourglass
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
It’s been nearly eight years since the last Mondo Drag album came out. In that time, the Bay Area psych-prog band toured the US and Europe, performed at major festivals and—once again—reformed their rhythm section. But in the context of the band’s nearly two-decade existence, this period may have been the most fraught. Vocalist and keyboardist John Gamiño lost friends and family members. Meanwhile, humanity suffered the throes of a global pandemic.
“It was a dark chapter,” he recalls. “I was going through a lot of stuff personally—there’s been a lot of death, loss of family members, and grief. Plus, the band was inactive. It felt like time was slipping away from me. I felt like I was wasting my opportunities. I felt like I wasn’t participating in my story as much as I could have.”
This feeling of time slipping away is the prevailing theme on Mondo Drag’s new album, Through the Hourglass. “For me, Through the Hourglass really encompasses the quarantine/pandemic years,” Gamiño says. “But in a way that includes a couple of years before that for us, because the band was stagnant during that time. Living with that was really impactful on our daily lives. So, the album is reflective. It’s looking at time—past, present, future.”
Luckily, Mondo Drag emerged from this dour period reborn. Freshly energized by bassist Conor Riley (formerly of San Diego psych squad Astra, currently of Birth), who joined in 2018, and drummer Jimmy Perez, who joined in 2022, Gamiño and guitarists Jake Sheley and Nolan Girard have triumphed over the seemingly inexorable pull of time’s passage.
“Astra was the one contemporary band that we felt was on the same tip as us,” Gamiño says. “We saw the similarities and felt the same vibe. Conor moved to San Francisco in 2018 and heard we were looking for a bassist, so we got in touch. For us, it was like, ‘The synth player from Astra wants to play bass for us?’ We couldn’t think of anybody more perfect.”
Perez, meanwhile, brings deep psych-prog knowledge and impeccable skill. “He’s an amazing drummer, and he allowed us to do what we’ve been trying to do,” Gamiño says. “Before he came along, it was like, ‘Where are the drummers who like psych and prog and can play dynamically?’ We ended up trying out metal drummers, but they couldn’t swing. Jimmy was the final piece of the puzzle.”
The result is a dazzling and often plaintive rumination on the hours, days, and years—not to mention experiences—that comprise a lifetime. Two-part opener “Burning Daylight” smolders with melancholy, offering a whirl of multi-colored and hallucinatory imagery. “It’s about the California wildfires and a feeling of helplessness,” Gamiño explains. “There’s a juxtaposition between the dark lyricism and upbeat music which is meant to imply a sort of delusional state—and choosing our own delusion to overcome the crushing despair of reality.”
Eleven-minute centerpiece “Passages” is a sprawling prog-rock adventure, festooned with lofty guitar melodies, sweeping organ flourishes and a delicately finger-picked outro. But the heaviest song, thematically speaking, might be the mournful and hypnotic “Death in Spring,” which borrows its title from the like-named Catalan novel.
“In the novel, people are placed inside opened trees and their mouths filled with cement before they die to prevent their souls from escaping,” Gamiño explains. “The song is about three people I knew who lost their lives to gun violence, addiction, and mental health. It’s my way of cementing their souls in song form.”
Mondo Drag fans might be surprised by this blend of hard reality with literary surrealism, but it’s a perfect example of how the last several years have impacted Mondo Drag—and Gamiño in particular. “On all of our previous albums, the lyrical content is more psychedelic and out there,” he acknowledges. “This is the most personal stuff I’ve ever done, so I’m definitely feeling vulnerable on this one.”
The title Through the Hourglass comes from the opening of the long-running soap opera Days of Our Lives. It’s less inspired by a predilection for daytime TV than Gamiño’s connection with his late mother, who passed during the time since the last album. “I used to watch Days of Our Lives with her everyday growing up,” he explains. “The song is kind of a reinterpretation of the theme song, although it’s different enough that probably no one will catch it. Now that I’m getting older, I like to put these little Easter eggs in the songs for myself and for archival purposes—for memories.”
Through the Hourglass was tracked at El Studio in San Francisco, with an additional ten days of recording at the band’s rehearsal space, which doubles as a hybrid analog-digital recording studio. The album was engineered and mixed by Phil Becker, drummer of space-punk mainstays Pins Of Light. “We’re still here,” Gamiño says. “We’ve been in the studio working on our craft and honing our skills. Now we’re re-emerging for the next stage of our life cycle.”
credits
released September 15, 2023
John Gamiño - Vocals, Synthesizer, Organ, Piano
Nolan Girard - Synthesizer, Guitar
Jimmy Perez - Drums, Percussion
Conor Riley - Bass, Vocals
Jake Sheley - Guitar
All music written and performed by Mondo Drag
Lyrics written by John Gamiño
Engineered by Phill Becker at El Studio, San Francisco
Additional Recordings by the band at their studio, Oakland
Mastered by Nick Townsend at Townsend Mastering
Mondo Drag will knock your socks off, let your hair down and take you on a mind's eye exploration you won't soon forget.
Though they exude love for the spiraling tapestry of heavy psychedelia of the past, they are on a rock and roll mission all their own: an unearthed prog band, futuristic in their time capsule, rocketing forward through the depths, gathering the sounds of space itself....more
supported by 81 fans who also own “Through The Hourglass”
I've always been on the fence about Elder. The musicianship was always there but it never clicked. Omens and Innate Passage have certainly changed that. QNdNas7kQgBG5fi
supported by 74 fans who also own “Through The Hourglass”
The flac version of this sounds great in my truck... not a crunch, clip or boom to be heard. That, in itself, gets this major points.
This is a lovely combination of early Floyd, U2 and a few San Francisco bands from the '60s with a heavy dose of Helmet tossed in. It's definitely best of breed when it comes to modern psych stuff. Even without a Hammond B3, it gets an easy A+... rick-taylor
supported by 73 fans who also own “Through The Hourglass”
It's only four tracks, yes, but it's four tracks of great cosmic psychedelia.
Here's my full review - https://www.7thlevelmusic.com/?p=12710 Nik Havert
Sustained by seismic psych riffs, proggy shifts, and vivid sci-fi storytelling, these Milwaukee cosmonauts command respect. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 29, 2023
supported by 72 fans who also own “Through The Hourglass”
For some reason, what I previewed and the real songs was somewhat different - maybe because of the cover art?
But I definitely don't regret something more spacial than expected. The recent Ocean drifting in space. frankwurst
