Night Fishing
Hometown: Denver, CO
Album: Live Bait EP, out now via Brutal Panda Records
RIYL: Improv. Groove. Fishing with Spaced Out.
I’m going to be honest with you all for a second (you’re telling me a writer might fib from time to time…?). If you had told me Night Fishing’s genre tags (kraut rock, jazz, stoner fuzz, psych), I would assume that the record wasn’t for me. Maybe it’s the fact that the members came from legendary Colorado acts like Call Of The Void, Abrams, and Green Druid, or the fact that I’m not the same person I was pre-pandemic, but Live Bait rules in a way I never would have expected. This shit is focused, fun, and transcendent. Maybe having an ex-member from a sludgy grindcore band for a drummer and main man might have something to do with how propulsive and chaotic this is? Maybe that fact that Denver has enough second-hand marijuana ingestion from clouds and the water that musicians (not to mention first-hand) there are creative as hell? Whatever the hell it is, there’s magic in these three songs, and for those looking for the kind of impassioned, groovy psych rock that speaks to your heart and hips, let’s go Night Fishing.
Drummer Gordon Koch shares the band’s inception:
“This was a passion project I thought up while cooped up in my apartment during the initial COVID-19 lockdown. My touring band Call Of The Void had just broken up, and my jazz connection moved out of state, so I had no musical outlet and, albeit forced, took the time to think about what I really wanted to do. Heavy psych rock with jazz rules, base songs off solo sections and feature the players strengths. Once things opened up, I started bothering everyone I knew that had chops/experience in improv. The friends I tricked into jamming locked in quickly, each song being a refreshing challenge and reminder how much fun live music can be. Personally, I think that’s what keeps everything exciting and natural sounding in this recording. Everyone is at the top of their ability, and we are pushing each other to play better and listen more. Staying on your toes, ready to hit your solo hard as fuck, the only people that matter are ourselves on stage.”
Photo courtesy of Night Fishing.
