Winged Wheel – Big Hotel LP

Description

“Big Hotel, the sophomore effort ofWinged Wheel, is an evolutionary document. Core membersCory Plump(Spray Paint,Rider/Horse,Expensive Shit),Fred Thomas(Tyvek,Idle Ray),Whitney Johnson(Matchess,Damiana), andMatthew J Rolin(Powers/Rolin Duo, solo) expand their lineup to includeLonnie Slack(Water Damage) andSteve Shelley(Sonic Youth), and instead of the entirely remote method utilized to create their 2022 debutNo Island, the far-flung party convened in person in Kingston, NY for a long weekend of live studio recording. The results are undeniably compelling. The band’s signature cyclonic energy is simultaneously augmented and refined with the approach of real-time collaboration. After tracking three days’ worth of group improvisations, weirdly-born songs, and other spontaneous creations, the hours of material were edited with a similar intensity. Half-hour jams became three-minute ragers and fragments were looped into infinity, calling on the same spliced aesthetic as some of the most adventurous material byCan,Faust, or more recently the experimental production of theInternational Anthemcamp. The stereo field has been torn apart and sewn together again, rerouted with strange and mesmerizing left turns. Vignettes of ambiguous construction, both tightly coiled and exploding, revolve around themselves, gathering intensity and mass, coalescing into something greater than the sum of its parts. WhereNo Islandwas born out of distance and murk, these songs breathe and erupt in close quarters. Though the band isn’t necessarily concerned with finding new levels of clarity, there’s a newfound power in the steady drive of Shelley’s unmistakable rhythmic style, and the unexpected interplay that builds on this foundation. Big Hotel is the sound of what happens in the rare and intriguing moments when Winged Wheel are all in the same room.” —Jen Powers