Prairiewolf

Though two thirds of Colorado’s Prairiewolf are music writers, the trio’s 2023 debut is an entirely wordless affair. Instead, Tyler Wilcox, Jeremy Erwin and Stefan Beck indulge a retro tech fetishists’ love of vintage gear (Roland TR-09, Rhodes piano, Moog Sub 37 and mellotron are among the numerous instruments listed in the album’s sleevenotes) across ten beatific instrumentals. Bar the odd bit of pedal steel and some plucked acoustic on the light side of the moon escape of “Return To The Lonesome Prairie,” guitar is to a minimum as the sprightly click of a Rhythm Ace drum machine underpins twinkling synthscapes that shimmer, shift and undulate between komische, library and lounge sounds under a dreamlike haze of cosmic Americana.

A fine example of music critics backing up their words with performances – bassist Tyler Wilcox has written about psych and avant garde rock for years while keyboardist Jeremy Erwin gained notice for his Heat Warps Twitter feed on Miles Davis’s fusion years – Prairiewolf finds them joining with guitarist Stefan Beck to create a series of mellow instrumental jams. With all percussion provided by a beatbox, on songs like “Eternal Master,” “Labwerk” and “Cogs,” the trio create feelings of slow sunrises and easygoing headnodding, a 21st century cosmic float.