Bitchin Bajas: Inland See

There has always been a shrewd, perceptive nature to the sounds that Bitchin Bajas have been responsible for. Occupying similar places in the mind to Sun Araw (but without the weed), Cooper Crain, Dan Quinlivan and Rob Frye’s brand of gadget wrangling has been of the meticulous variety. One needs time for it to completely fill every corner of the mind, and once it does, the Bitchin Bajas experience stays with you forever.

2002’s Bajascillators was another favourite among their disciples, and whilst touring on the back of it, the road would be the source where a large part of Inland See – the band’s excellent follow-up – would be written. The approach marked a first for the band, and the results are telling, as Bitchin Bajas find themselves at their most whimsical and expansive.

Earlier in the summer, Bitchin Bajas got back into the ring with old sparring partners in the Josh Abrams-led Natural Information Society for their second collaboration, Totality. While it proved to be a sleeper record in the world of experimentalism this year, Inland See is every bit its equal. Recorded at Electrical Audio studios, it possesses an organic spark where everything seamlessly aligns. Bitchin Bajas’ detailed plotting of the past, making way for something more untethered and, at times, transcendental.

Crain’s galactical fascination has always been a hallmark to the Bitchin Bajas experience. Like light teeming into the sci-fi inflected corners of komische and psychedelia, Bitchin Bajas’ natural habitat has always been libraries instead of open fields. Inland See doesn’t change that, and as the warm thrum cuts through the more unsociable hours of the night, Bitchin Bajas present the kind of innovative ideas that expand their always-evolving sound world.

Starting with Skylarking. New dawn Bitchin Bajas, as bass lines are more like a sunny pulse in something that is part cinematic, part meditative. The saxophones, permeating with narcotic effect, rendering new dimensions in the Bitchin Bajas matrix. And the surprises keep coming on the piano-led Reno. Another sweeping movement that’s balladeering in the kind of post-country pomp one would expect from Bob Holmes to have orchestrated in SUSS. It’s the most tender moment the band has committed to tape since Show Your Love and Your Love Will Be Returned alongside Bonnie “Prince” Billy.

The backend of Inland See sees Bitchin Bajas move to more familiar terrains: space. (No surprise, given they have claimed it to be the place on 2021’s Switched on Ra.) On Keiji’s Dreams, they dispense a dream-state blur not a world away from Roger Clark Miller work on Curiosity for Solo Electric Guitar Ensemble. A nimble, kinetic composition, here Bitchin Basja flee the library for the ether.

Which is where they remain on Graut. Bitchin Bajas have always thrived in the clutch and there are no exceptions here. Protracted harmony in orbit, here they emit the kind of sonic fairy dust that makes the experimental landscapes as fertile as ever. Bitchin Bajas don’t do epics, their music is too modest for that; however, Graut is as close as it gets, capping off Inland See as one of their finest moments from the vaults. They haven’t sounded as free-spirited as they are here.

Inland See is out on Friday via Drag City. Purchase from Bandcamp.