Don’t be thrown by this Kansas City, MO quintet’s irregular Roman numeral LP titling system; V: Heroic Dose is their eighth studio album, following 2022’s IV: Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fingers. The sprawling, 23-song double-LP diverges from their typical weighty rock albums (I, II: Loving Relationship, III: Unfathomable Darkness, and IV), but unlike previous “outlier” LPs XIII, XII: L’appel Du Vide, and the ambient XI: It’s the Future, it’s not all instrumental. With Scott Free, Chris Lost, and Nick Carroll trading vocals, and guests Bump Funk and J. Scott, Rhiannon Birdsall, and Sarah Garibaldi singing one each, it exhibits a wider range of styles. Thus, their familiar psych-rock — see the languid “Bedhead,” misty “Home,“ and propulsive “Greater Than or Less Than” — now shares the spotlight with doom metal (“Obliteration”), new wave (“Give the Mind More of What It Wants”), surf (“Women Get the Shaft”), country-folk (“Take Half”), avant-garde (“Concession Stand”), hip-hop (“Rock Me Baby”), soul/R&B (“Big Dancer”), EDM/techno (“Sweet Moves”), spy music (“Breaking Into the Pest Control Business”), and vaudeville (“Afterglow”), all convincingly played.
On the other hand, X: Live sticks to their harder-hitting trademark psych, post-rock, and prog oeuvre, with each selection culled from albums I-IV. Recorded at three Kansas City shows — at Midwestern Music Company on 2/3/12, The Tank Room on 3/9/15, and The Bunker on 11/21/22 — and an 11/16/17 KJHK radio session, the sound quality is consistent, boasting crisp, meaty production. And with vigorous, inspired playing, songs like the Mission of Burma-esque “Bubblegum,” “Master’s Stick” and “Come Alone,” the Gang of Four-hued “Walking on the Sun,” and the Wedding Present/Sonic Youth-evoking “Hai Karate” even outshine their studio versions, making the LP an ideal intro for novices.
Suneaters V: Heroic Dose will be released on June 29.
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Lotuspool Records: Website
“Home”
“Johatsu”
“Gibbons” (Live)
“Hai Karate” (Live)
