Nebula
Apollo
7.6
Consistently fuzzed out psychedelic rock courtesy of Nebula breathes with the ease of a recently corked vintage wine on the group’s seventh full-length, Apollo.
Caught somewhere between the straightforwardness of Fu Manchu and a heightened sense of psychedelia, Nebula either poses an intensely troubling conundrum or possesses what so many bands strive to achieve; striking originality. I lean more toward the latter. It is no accident that Nebula plays with the unrelenting and almost thoughtless vigor of Fu Manchu while lacing songs with trippy riffs and cool fills along the way. Every second of the record seems precisely calculated. There aren’t any overly long songs a la The Mars Volta. In fact, the longest song clocks in at 4:35. You can choose to read this as a negative, i.e. it doesn’t allow the group to develop any particularly trippy riffs, or you can choose to read this as a positive, i.e. it keeps the songs tighter. While some songs could benefit from more guitar experimentation, like “The Alchemist,” which seems to forcibly hold itself back from injecting more psychedelic influences into its sound, most pave a fairly complete path.
In terms of bang for the buck, psychedelic rock fans are not going to find many better deals than Apollo in 2006. 12 songs, two instrumental interludes, and 38 quality minutes are enough to prove this album a success. The only thing keeping this album from receiving near-perfect scores is a sense that the group might produce a more soulful sound if it developed and extended riffs more.
