The driving force behind
Desertshore is the partnership between guitarist
Phil Carney and keyboard player
Chris Connolly. The former has played with both of sadcore king
Mark Kozelek's bands,
Red House Painters and
Sun Kil Moon, and the latter has a classical background, though he also loves the gauzy, ethereal indie rock sounds that came out of England's 4AD label (which was also home to
Red House Painters). With third man Dave Muench on drums and a couple of guests (including
Kozelek), Carney and
Connolly made
Desertshore's all-instrumental debut album a place where all their varied influences intertwine. The album's title offers a hint about the mood of the music --
Drifting Your Majesty maintains a haunting, dreamlike quality throughout its 14 tracks. Though these pieces are not without dynamics, they remain on the impressionistic, ethereal side, whether it's an intimate duet between
Connolly and Carney that's taking place, or something more fully fleshed out with rhythm section and second guitar. As the tunes gently rise and fall, they roll rather seamlessly through a wide array of styles, blending psychedelia, post-rock, and international touches. Sometimes these tracks evoke the mellower, more contemplative circa end-of-1969
Neil Young or
Grateful Dead improvisatory expeditions (
Desertshore are, after all, a Bay Area band). At other points, there are echoes of a more contemporary post-rock sound à la
Mogwai or
Explosions in the Sky, and occasionally,
Connolly and Carney dip into some Middle Eastern-tinged modalities, suggesting some quality time spent listening to early world music-inclined ‘60s guitarists like
Peter Walker and
Sandy Bull.
Drifting Your Majesty manifests a moody, meditative feeling, but is never monochromatic. ~ J. Allen