As much as I love the psychedelic side of life, there’s one thing that always trips me up about it. Why does this kind of sound always seem fresh? To me, as long as you’re not obviously just aping another band, stoner and psychedelic takes on music just seem more interesting and artistic to me. Maybe it’s the depth produced by the recording process. Maybe it’s the fact that it’s just not aggressive and that seems like a breath of fresh air these days. Perhaps this is all a conversation for another day, but it’s a really great way to start talking about Melbourne’s Foot.
Foot does exactly what I’ve just described: some feel good stoner and psychedelic infused rock. Sometimes it leans more toward spacey desert rock stylings and occasionally dips into more doom metal ideas. But a lot of it is that straightforward riff rock with a whole lot of reverb that makes you tune out the world and put on a cool pair of shades. The Balance of Nature Shifted, the band’s third record since 2016, is a whole lot of that. It was hard not to listen to this record while imagining myself road tripping through the desert.
One instantly notable thing about this is that the production quality is pretty high. Stoner doom or psychedelic rock don’t really need many bells and whistles to help it out. In fact, that can often have the opposite effect, making the record and the style completely incongruous. However, just a little bit of studio magic always goes a long way. That space the tracks have need just a touch of clarity and definition. It really does go a long way.
My favorite aspect of The Balance of Nature Shifted is the fact that Foot doesn’t tie themselves down to some specific kind of sound. They’re not try-hards going out there to impress you with how they “do a little bit of everything” or something like that. The band explores the entire spectrum of this kind of music, but they do it in their way. They play the heavy-duty doom style on tracks like “Green Embers,” but they’re just as likely to play into more riff rock with tracks like “Investment”. Those heavily fuzzed and reverbed guitars and ephemeral-sounding echoing vocals are the sign of the band on every single track. It’s a nice trip on the stoner side of life and a record for anybody who likes any aspect of that kind of sound.
If you couldn’t tell by now, Foot is an all-around fun band, and The Balance of Nature Shifted was a nice and light trip down a sound I personally enjoy a lot. Is this record going to blow your mind with how new and different and wholly original it is? No, probably not. But is it fun to find a new band who explores the fuzzy slow and low? Hell yes, it is! In a time of horrible bullshit going on all over the world, we need the fun escapism of The Balance of Nature Shifted. I couldn’t think of timelier record.
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The Balance of Nature Shifted is out now and available for purchase on Bandcamp.