Bandcamp Steinsopp describe themselves as “dirty norwegian groovier-than-thou psychedelic neanderthal amp worshipping sabbath drenched mushroom rock’n’roll,” and honestly that is most of the review right there. The Oslo four-piece deal in long, fuzz-caked stoner jams with song titles split between mycology and deep space, “Mycomaniac,” “Mycologist,” “Superdroid,” “Oort Cloud,” and the green psychedelic mushroom mandala on the cover tells you the vibe before a note plays. Goloka Sessions is seven tracks and close to fifty minutes of it, tracked with a live, in-the-room feel and, crucially, left that way. This is amp worship for people who want the fuzz to actually move.
The great strength here is the production, or rather the restraint of it. Goloka Sessions consistently refuses the brickwall, and the record breathes because of it. “Quasar” is the clearest win: excellent preserved dynamics, a warm, mid-centred frequency balance, an honest and spacious sound with no trace of loudness-war crush, the guitars carrying a griffige, honest distortion with high note definition over a bass that fills the low mids without smearing. “Superdroid” has that same organic, transparent live feel with the dynamics intact, and “Sunslung” rides a griffige, mid-forward crunch with a warm, precise bass that never buries the kick. When Steinsopp lock a fuzz riff to a loose groove and let the tape roll, the record has exactly the loose, human swing that over-produced stoner records spend a fortune trying to fake.
The reservation is a recurring low-mid congestion, the flip side of the raw approach. “Gartneren - Kuiper” opens the album buried in massive reverb and a dense mid-stack where the guitars smear into a single texture and individual notes disappear, more oppressive than propulsive, and “Mycologist” lets the guitars and bass overload the low mids enough to blur the definition. “Oort Cloud” tips slightly boxy in the middle. None of it is fatal, and much of it is the honest grime the style trades in, but the record is at its best when the arrangement thins out enough to let the groove drive, and muddiest when everything piles into the same low-mid band at once. A touch more separation down low and the whole thing would swing even harder.
Goloka Sessions is a warm, unpretentious, genuinely fun fuzz record from a band who know exactly what they are and lean all the way into it. It is not reinventing stoner rock and does not want to; it just wants to worship the amp, ride the groove and take the long way round, and when the production stays loose and organic, as on “Quasar” and “Superdroid,” it nails that with room to spare. Fans of the heavier, jammier, Sabbath-through-a-wall-of-fuzz end of the style, the ones who like a riff to breathe rather than blast, will get a lot out of this. Roll it up and let it run.
Long, fuzz-caked stoner jams tracked live and left to breathe, consistently refusing the brickwall. “Quasar” is the clearest win: excellent preserved dynamics, a warm mid-centred balance, an honest spacious sound with no loudness-war crush, the guitars carrying a griffige honest distortion with high note definition over a bass that fills the low mids without smearing. “Superdroid” shares that organic transparent live feel with dynamics intact, and “Sunslung” rides a mid-forward crunch with a warm precise bass that never buries the kick. The reservation is recurring low-mid congestion: opener “Gartneren - Kuiper” is buried in massive reverb and a dense mid-stack where the guitars smear into one texture, and “Mycologist” overloads the low mids enough to blur the definition, while “Oort Cloud” tips slightly boxy. Much of it is the honest grime the style trades in, but the record is at its best when the arrangement thins enough to let the groove drive. Loose, warm and human at its best, muddy where everything piles into the same low-mid band.
Standout tracks: Quasar, Superdroid, Sunslung
