Smooth Retsina Glow were formed in 2019 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. They’ve undergone a number of lineup changes since their first album New Frontiers, though each of their iterations has proven highly popular at live shows and on the awards circuit. Their latest album is titled Gemini Reign, and features Colin Wolf (guitar/vocals), Sarah Stoll (vocals), Jacob Wolf (bass) and Brian Dercas (drums).
The band describes this album as being under the indie rock umbrella, but also as “45 minutes and 2 seconds of an intense, dreamy and diverse musical escapade to a distant galaxy, with everything from odd time signatures, progressively psychedelic yet listenable musical characteristics, and the perfect balance of light and shade, slow and fast, ethereal and heavy.”
I’ve previously written about Smooth Retsina Glow for their 2021 release Out of the Ether. Though my review was very positive, I did note that the group thrives on stylistic changeups, and I wondered what they might sound like by exploring fewer genres per album. We’ll see how this one turned out!
The opening track “Turn to Hubris” is a solid rock tune built on fuzzy, Stones-like guitars and Colin Wolf’s high pitched, slightly quavery vocals. However the guitar solo is anything but traditional: initially I thought it was recorded backwards, but though it does have that spooky reverse sound, you can also clearly hear the pick hitting the strings in a more “forward” manner. Only Wolf knows how it was recorded, but we’re only into song one and they’ve already thrown me for a loop!
“Overcoming” starts with a clean, strummed electric guitar that leads us into a throwback pop tune with the lovely vocals of Sarah Stoll, who was one of my favorite players on the Out of the Ether album. Not to be outdone, Wolf pops in for a vocal turn sounding like Arlo Guthrie or Bob Dylan. The melodies are so retro-lovely that it’s a bit of a shock when the Talkbox guitar solo begins, another echo from their past work. “Bound by Desire” is an example of the Glow Band’s proclivity for genre hopping, as it is not only a Funk tune but seems to follow the Funk playbook note for note, with music like the Ohio Players and vocals like Stevie Wonder. Atop the synths and snake-like riffs Wolf takes another guitar solo with another amazing stomp box setting. He never sounds the same way twice!
“Backsliding” is a somewhat off-kilter, space-pop tune with both Stoll’s vocals and all the instruments seemingly playing from space, constantly modulating up and down the tonal scale. Clearly we’re meant to float away with this one, as it runs six minutes. Wolf contributes an almost traditional slide guitar solo. “She Won’t Be Home” is somewhat similar, again featuring the lovely Sarah Stoll atop a backing of impossibly restless jazz chords and key changes, like a cocktail bar on Andor. Wolf yet again comes up with a cool, unusual sound for his guitar solo, like it was filtered through an elephant’s trunk.
“Obfucscate” showcases the rumbling, tumbling drums of Brian Dercas to great effect. Here’s a track that starts like rock but grows to feel more like prog, featuring both hypnotic picked guitars and jazz-like changeups. And do I really I have to mention the amazing, wailing guitar solo? The title track “Gemini Reign” is the concluding seven-minute epic and blazes in with fuzzy riffs worthy of Brian May or Tony Iommi along with ear-tickling analog synth twinkles. The song itself approaches speed metal as Wolf sings in a strident, single-note manner. Lovers of guitar riff magic a la Metallica should love this one, and I surely do!
Based on these ten songs, this band hasn’t abandoned its proclivity for extreme genre hopping, but I feel they’ve stuck to a more consistent conceptual base this time around and I’m here for it. And really, you can’t go wrong with any of their music based on all I’ve heard so far. Excellent work!