by Jordan Reyes (@jpreyes90)
Heavy Drag, self-proclaimed “psychedelic bummer rock” quartet from Miami live up to their band name. Shoegazy and heavier than a death in the family, the band traffics in tightly-woven guitar leads and hazy, drugged out vocals foregrounding throbbing bass and a plodding drum section. Like the most realized psychedelic music, and no surprise for a band with a single called “LSD,” Heavy Drag doesn’t shy away from the bad trip - while there are certainly peaks of ecstasy via hooks, the band’s more invested in melancholy sonic expanse.
In “Kinda Slow,” the first single and music video for Heavy Drag’s debut LP Sàbana Ghost, director and bass player Michael Ruiz Unger paints a picture of mistrust in the Northeast woods. It’s suitably visually epic for the band’s massive sound and an excellent entry point into their dark, chemically-laced world.
Sàbana Ghost is out July 22 on Limited Fanfare Records.