Starving Weirdos

Humboldt County, CA's Starving Weirdos are one of the most intriguing drone outfits on the continent. At the core of the Weirdos' universe sit Brian Pyle and Merrick McKinlay, spirit guides for adventurous music aficionados. Into an Energy marks a progression for Pyle and associates; it's a dense record rife with sonic sigils and clever distillations of numerous ideas. It isn't until fourth track "One White Candle, No Moon Night" that the group lighten up and let actual instruments become discernable, hand drums and a trumpet in this particular case. For the most part, the quartet — Pyle and McKinlay are joined by Greg Devaney and Steve Lazar — blend their instruments into something soft in focus yet tight in execution. Pyle's clever post-processing might just be the source of the intentional translucence that Into an Energy contains. It's this dichotomy, this directed drift, which attracts further investigation.