The desert-fried psychedelic motorik of Trees Speak came seemingly out of nowhere in 2017 with a remarkable self-titled record. Now the Tucson-based duo (Daniel Martin Diaz and Damian Diaz, the former of whom has a long-standing career as a sound designer and art director for television, print and music) follows up with the limited-edition LP Ohms on legendary UK label Soul Jazz. One can see what the label, which usually sticks to reissues and compilations, saw in the band. On freaky, flowing tracks like “Octave Cycle,” “Blame Shifter” and “Sleep Crime,” Trees Speak, aided and abetted by fellow Arizona rock luminaries from Xixa and Giant Sand, demonstrates a remarkable ability to beam emanations from outer and inner space simultaneously. Moody synth washes, mantra rhythms, trippy dub effects and bits of space rock, soundtrack electronica and heavy free jazz meld into a shimmering sonic wave that sounds like the mirage you’d find at high noon on Tatooine after being lost for a week. If the music wasn’t so clearly sun-baked, we might think this was a long-lost artifact from the Germanic seventies. Instead it’s a modern motorik masterpiece.
Initial copies of this extremely limited edition LP come with a bonus seven-inch single, originally put out as a white label release and long sold out. The throbbing “Invisible Sine Wave” and pulsing “Witch Wound” stand on their own as more than mere bonus tracks, so if you’re a fan of motorik rock in general or Trees Speak in particular, jump on this while you can.
