SWAMI JOHN REIS - Ride The Wild Night LP

Neither similar nor dissimilar to his previous bands (Hot Snakes, Night Marchers, The Sultans, Rocket From The Crypt, Drive Like Jehu, etc) yet immediately familiar (like an old friend asking to borrow some money).

The music is an amalgam of ’60s folk punk, ’70s punk, and pre-Vietnam War rock ’n’ roll with only one or two new ideas introduced to the form. The sound is built on stentorian bedrock of savage drumming by J. Sinclair K. of Hot Snakes and the pounding piano of Joe Guevara.

Swami John Reis commits audio crime with his throaty basso and then weaponizes the files with electric guitar roar, acoustic strum and bass guitar. Hear his defiant, croak howl in protest in what might be his most autobiographical work yet.

Music critics and fans alike have long referred to Reis’s signature voice as “The Velvet Yawn” and never has that description been more apt. Ride The Wild Night was recorded at City Of Refuge (Night Marchers, Black Lips, The Spits) on an 8-track tape machine and mixed by Ben Moore (Hot Snakes, Diamanda Galas).