Billing themselves as “casino trash”, trio Marion Walker play fittingly gritty garage rock with serious psychedelic undertones. In other words, it’s riff rawk that never hesitates to wander away from aggression to meditative passages, be they early-‘70s doom jams, screaming guitar solos, or both. At a scant 11 minutes, the new Serious Picnic EP might seem short, but it’s actually a finely orchestrated stoner suite that echoes everything from Blue Cheer, to Cream, to the Velvet Underground. It’s a pleasantly hazy-sounding experience, and one we’re glad to premiere.
“There are problems in these times, but wooooooo… turns out they are actually all of ours (RIP Lou Reed),” the band, who divide their time between Reno and Seattle, tells PopMatters. “With our ears to the ground and our hearts on our sleeves we deliver to you our Serious Picnic EP. We are volunteers, we are hellhounds, we have our hands held up, and we give cheers to the demons.”
Serious Picnic will be released 23 June, and can be pre-ordered here.