Ten East
Extraterrestrial Highway

THE REVIEW

The Ten East are a kind of supergroup featuring some of the key figures of desert rock; the band, founded by Gary Arce (guitar, founder of Yawning Man), boasts members of the caliber of Brant Bjork (ex-Kyuss, ex-Fu Manchu, here on bass), Mario Lalli (Yawning Man, Fatso Jetson, on guitar), and Bill Stilson (drummer associated with Greg Ginn), some of the most influential and versatile personalities in the scene.

And "Ten East" is precisely the name of the road that leads from downtown Los Angeles to the desert, "an extraterrestrial highway" that transports the traveler in just a few hours to a world completely different from the chaos of the metropolis, a space geographically close yet simultaneously light-years away, in that desert which is certainly the major source of inspiration for the band's music. A music that draws from the teachings of Yawning Man (after all, two of the original members play here, along with Brant Bjork, who has never hidden being a long-time fan), therefore strictly instrumental pieces combined with a taste for jam sessions marked by improvisation, with a style that blends melody with the most diverse influences (from psychedelia to surf, but also jazz, blues, and punk).

The guiding principles of this project are simple: nothing premeditated, entering the studio, freely improvising on a groove, and recording it all. Compared to Yawning Man, the songs are longer (of the 8 songs present, three exceed 10 minutes), "heavy" and distorted, often oscillating between reminiscences of Black Sabbath and echoes with an almost progressive origin. The four musicians play comfortably, they are on the same wavelength, and it shows (the entire album was recorded in a single session of three or four hours), succeeding in creating expansive and absolutely lysergic compositions, which together blend into a single and mutable flow with a wonderfully hypnotic flavor.

More than an album, a true sonic trip.