Having freaked out when a Philly friend sent me a link to Sandcastle ’s early 2013 release, Kisses For Witches I was primed when the band threw their new collection at me, provocatively titled _Nymph & Necromancer _. As their incremental ascension into fidelity ramps up, so does their songwriting prowess.
The opener “Prologue: Death of the Nymph” is a childlike instrumental opus, a nod to fantastical, roger dean tinged kiddie memories of 70s album covers, leading perfectly into the dank propulsion of perfect rock song “Magnetic Angels”. I mean crap, what more do you want from a band? They have mystery, skill, psychedelia, they sing the word “goblin” at least once and they know their way around a hook. By the time “My Elf” shows up I know everyone who counts Tyrannosaurus Rex and Ween in their collection will be hooked for life. “Amulet/Succubus” is a distorted opus, really an appropriate dark peak to the proceedings, culminating in a perfect moment of handclaps and harmonized guitar refrains. “Julia” is by far the Ween-iest track, that washed and wammies into further strangitude on the sinewy and psychoactive “Honeysuckle Waterfall”. The most pointillistic and abrupt song closes, the stadium-ready disco-prog jam “Blue Rose”.
If you weren’t hooked on these guys from Kisses for Witches already… I don’t know what to say. There’s a magical newness of Sandcastle’s oeuvre, that feeling of discovery lurking in every song, they really bring you places in a gentle but forceful way. That’s the trick of genius songwriting is that confidence, the ability to say “Hey let’s go here… trust me!”.. and you do, and it turns out great. Nymph & Necromancer brings me everywhere I like to be; it’s fun, sexy, trippy, dark and weird rock that hits all the right places with the right amount of force.
