by Ljubinko Zivkovic (@zivljub)
It just might hit you at one point that there are two Orb’s around. That British version that has ‘the’ in front and this, and the Australian one that just goes by ORB. While the British duo version go for electronics as their instrumental base, the Australian core trio go for what you can call ‘ordinary’ electric guitars and other instruments. Yet, there is one essential similarity between the two - the music they come up with is as purely psychedelic as it can get. But let’s concentrate on ORB - Zak Olsen (guitar/bass/vocals), David Gravolin (guitar/bass), and Jamie Harmer (drums) and their latest, fourth album, Tailem Bend.
It took the band six years to create and complete this album, but it was definitely worth the wait. Joined on half the songs here by guitarist Callum Shortal and guests (Jesse Williams on piano, Nick vanBakel on congas, Emma Bailey and Ashley Goodall on vocals), ORB bring in a bag-full of new musical tricks that goes beyond their signature sound dominated by one of the key psych rock inventions - the fuzz box.
Sure, the band certainly don’t abandon their fuzz-laden sound (check “Karma Comes” to hear how inventive they are with it), but they add more value to space and time with some tight, exquisite jamming akin to the best psych rockers from the sixties on. One track here is titled “Can’t Do That,” but ORB sho that they certainly can. As its title notes, the album’s eight songs are inspired by a quiet town in Southern Australia, whose name itself derives from the local word “thelim," referring to a sharp bend in the nearby Murray River. ORB throw in quite a few musical bends in here, some quite sharp, some a bit more mellow, (“Skyclock” offers something a bit new for them), creating their most diverse (and exciting) offering so far.