In case the title doesn’t make it a dead giveaway, Miskatonic Graffiti, the newest LP by the neo-classic rock outfit Casablanca, is a concept album. Not only that, the band describes it as “Ziggy Stardust meets H.P. Lovecraft in Twin Peaks.” If one is expecting grandiloquent, noodly prog, she would be well within reason; however, one spin of the album cut “My Shadow Out of Time” will dispel any such notion. Casablanca’s mindset on Miskatonic Graffiti is indeed cosmic, but their musical tastes are far more visceral than cerebral. Melding together the influences of ’70s classic rock and ’80s heavy metal, the group crafts a blissfully retro rocker in “My Shadow Out of Time”, with an energy to match the eccentric vision of Miskatonic Graffiti.
Cryptically, the band tells PopMatters about the tune, “‘My Shadow Out of Time’ is about memories of loss on a cosmic scale, of those left on the other side, gone forever? It’s about things left in the run, like shadows lost in time. Don’t we all lose a few shadows, while making our way through life?”
Miskatonic Graffiti is out on Despotz Records later this spring.