In the year 2001, brothers Jake and Jamin Orrall came together to forge one of the more badass bands out there –JEFF the Brotherhood. Their latest album is titled Global Chakra Rhythms¸ and it’s absolutely nasty. A cacophonous mix of all the good things psychedelic rock and grunge is made of –JEFF The Brotherhood is a hesher’s wet dream.
JEFF The Brotherhood strikes a sweet balance between jam and garage. A mix of sweet guitar lines and some real dark ambiance. Global Chakra Rhythms isn’t as far out as it sounds but rid yourself of the expectations and the result my astound you. Like Big Black on acid, JEFF The Brotherhood tears through you with distorted guitars and thundering drums. Their songs are psychedelic buildups and they’re fantastic.
The more than an hour long album features a ton of crazy tracks to lose yourself in, but among the most favorable is, “Deep Space Bound On The Edge Of Reality.” The song is really something else. It starts off with a simple drum beat and guitars exploring the outer reaches of the universe. The atmosphere is laid out and then the band adds a whole new element of craziness. Little bits of solos. Changing melodies. Maybe more entertaining than the music is how perfectly JEFF The Brotherhood captures a feeling. Listening to the song makes you really feeling like you’re in deep space and that’s pretty special. The band also shows off in their tune, “Mary of Silence.” The track is anything but silent and is instead some sort of elephant stampede –a complete assault, total noise. It’s distortion on top of distortion. Starting with a deep bass line, the song quickly gains momentum with drums and distant vocals. Once things get really heated, it’s all one big mess. You could take the time to listen to the individual voice of each instrument, and that’s fun –but the real pleasure is the barrage of sound JEFF The Brotherhood has crated.
Do we love the album? Nah. Do we like it? Certainly. Global Chakra Rhythms isn’t everything but it’s pretty great. At times it can become a real sleeper, “Chilled To Bones,” is a grungy slow tune with some added piano and a pleasant horn part. It isn’t that bad, but it’s hard to get through –and without any really exceptional moments, a lot of songs suffer the same fate. Around the halfway mark, it becomes too easy to want to change it up. It would have been nice to hear the band really dig deep into their creative reservoirs and pull some crazy stuff out. Maybe that would just disturb our chakra rhythms too much though. The album may lack any super attention grabbing material but it’s still a fairly good listen.
JEFF The Brotherhood is probably one of the few bands capable of using their creative prowess so effectively. They’ve released several album, have been playing for more than a decade, and they keep going. Their latest album, Global Chakra Rhythms isn’t perfect. In fact, it can be boring. But with the entire album sounding like some sort of dark ambiance, psychedelic jam sesh –it’s definitely acceptable. It’s even likable. Global Chakra Rhythms is a worthy addition.
Rating: 7.0/10
