Wet Tuna brings the choogle and the cosmos on their intoxicatingly strong sophomore studio effort, Water Weird.

One of the first things that you notice when playing this album is the utter excitement that just exudes from Matt Valentine and Pat Gubler. On every song, you can really sense how much fun these two were having in the studio. I swear you could even hearValentine smirk as he dishes out some of the record’s more amusing lines (“Cowpath 40” is filled with moments like these).

The duo’s compositions are as imaginative and absorbing as ever, combining their psychedelic rural vibes with minimalist electro-grit. Yet it’s the addition of S. Freyer Esq. and John Moloney on drums and percussion that really sets the proceedings apart from what you hear on the first record. This added human element to the rhythm section (along with Jim Bliss on bass) helps make tracks like “Disco Bev” become infectious rave-ups

Throughout the entirety of the LP, Valentine and Gubler find deep grooves, lock into them, and set their guitars loose. These sprawling, meandering performances pull you down empty roadways, across wooded New England landscapes and through congested metropolitan streets. The repetitive beats meanwhile, whip past you like the double white line, as Valentine’s shamanic vocals ebb and flow through enough effect filters that they start to sound like the pairs’ guitars. Wet Tuna has indeed hit peak auditory hallucination here.

Elsewhere on the record, the band floats through swamps of laidback acid guitar ambience (“Sacagawea”), gorgeously melancholic burnouts (“Goin’”) and funky astral motorik jams (“Poor Old Interstellar”). Regardless of whatever particular sonic terrain the band ventures off to, if you crank it up, you’ll be guaranteed a cathartically high time.

Water Weird is further proof that Wet Tuna is an ever-evolving beast that excels in both onstage and studio wizardry. Grab it today from Three Lobed Records.

-KH

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