Dr Sardonicus’ Winter Festival 2024. It was three evenings of high-grade psychedelic rock and suchlike. It was in Cardigan. Do you know who was there to soak it up and write about it for Buzz? Julia Deli was!
This annual gathering of the psych rock clans in Cardigan, Dr Sardonicus’ Winter Festival, provides a friendly, quirky weekender with perfect, seamless programming. Cardiff’s Soft Hearted Scientists whisk up a club vibe on Friday night, with their warm and rounded sound and the full five-piece lineup. Launching an extended edition of 2023’s Waltz Of The Weekend – the double album becomes a triple – their trademark sound mixes the bizarre with the comforting and familiar, poetry reclaimed from everyday life jostling elbows with deep thought and gallows humour; a lovable theatricality that sets us up for the two days to come.
Telephones Unplugged open Saturday night, wowing us with their full, West Coast harmonies and Derbyshire souls, despite lead guitarist Jim’s broken wrist forcing a no-show! Andy Richardson (strings) and Dom (percussion – cajon in this case) cook up a hefty, feelgood sound: blissful guitar in Hummingbyrd blends with yearning in spacerock anthem Arrow, each song an atmospheric masterwork that hooks us with its deceptive simplicity.
Brighton’s Paradise 9, who met over 20 years ago at songwriter’s nights in London pubs, deal in activist/idealist spacerock with punk sensibilities. Soaring guitar riffs from Pembs native Tyrone Thomas dazzle in Crystalised Moment, while Neil Matthars builds the bass continuously in rebel love song Shine On. Guitarist Gregg McKella plays a transfixing American tin clarinet throughout Into The Ethers, and his vocal punch cuts to the chase in Deconstruct, Divide And Rule, as he rails against the blatant dismantling of society. McKella also seizes the chance for some personal campaigning on behalf of prostate awareness, sharing briefly his own experiences to encourage “men over 40 to be proactive in seeking a PSA test”.
“In 2022,” says McKella after the gig, “my GP suggested I have a Prostate Specific Antigen test done. Every man over 50 has the right to one, but it isn’t pushed by the medical profession, as it can throw up false positives. In my case it gave advance warning of a 14mm tumour, and a choice between a prostatectomy, or hormone and radiotherapy. My treatment was successful, and now it’s my mission to bring the information out in the middle of every gig!”
The last three years have seen an annual release of deep concept stuff from Sendelica, who headline with new material from the recent Man, Myth And Magic. Multi-instrumentalist Pete Bingham reveals that recent events have provoked the band to look for new insight: a final album in a quartet will come out this year.
“We began the series with Man Created God, which looked musically into ideas of the mind, and in One Man’s Man we explored the known history of mankind and the various arguments between scientists about the validity of that science. In Man, Myth And Magic, we’re trying to express the connections between universal fables – like the deluge , common in most cultures – and the reality they may describe, and asking why humans need to create these myths. The fourth will be Requiem For Mankind – yes, I know! The big questions! Will we continue this demise? Are we gonna go the way of the dinosaurs?”
Thorny problems to contemplate, but the sonic beauty of Sendelica’s prolific output never fails to move us in a healthy and therapeutic way, and their late night slot is as emotionally satisfying as ever.
As Mascot Moth guitarist/vocalist David ‘Gravy’ Thomas reminds us with a knowing smile on Sunday,
“Psychedelia encompasses everything… from the Beatles to doom!” His band make music with a jazzy, idiosyncratic sound, sometimes bursting into energetic funk, tribal stomp or guitar-led ambience, but always to the amazing syncopation of Sioned Camlin’s drums. Jack Hunter’s chocolate-smooth but twisted bass brings ballast to the atmospheric lament Lullaby In Giliminour, which resolves in unexpectedly sunny major chords. Joined by guitarist and harmonica player Percy ‘Pigman’ on The Inevitable David Lynch with its bluesy hook, the four all met at school in Llanfyllin, Powys 20 years ago.
“We’d been playing together for a while, so we all agreed to defer university for a year to play together seriously,” Camlin remembers. “Every week we’d play at least a couple of gigs, so when we’d finished our studies, we all gradually drifted back to the village – I kind of knew we would – and now we all rehearse in the [Llanfyllin] Workhouse again.” Mascot Moth release a Welsh language album this year too.
Sunday seems to be the heavier, bluesier, louder day of the two. Formed 25 years ago in London, Litmus’ tracks are extended and cinematic, whether frantic Krautrock or moody ambience, where hypnotic Eastern chord structures tremble on Mellotrons in the face of raw, primal chant. Simon Fiddler’s jangling guitar loops reverb ominously with Martin Harvey’s complex basslines and Marek Bublik’s wild percussion, the rhythm section also playing with Dark Zen Kollectiv. The epic You Are Here is a massive crowdpleaser and textbook spacerock; Litmus resonate the solar plexus.
Ken Pustelnik’s Groundhogs provide a huge flourish to the end of the festival, with Paradise 9’s Wayne Collyer heaping praise on the fellow drummer. “He’s amazing. He’s a left-handed drummer playing a right-handed kit, and he just fits in extra beats all over the place! He’s 78, but so energetic. The drummer’s drummer!” never mind the rock’n’roll lifestyle – Pustelnik’s energy knocks a couple of decades off.
The original 1960s Groundhogs lineup, with Tony McPhee and Pete Cruickshank, broke moulds with hits like Cherry Red and Eccentric Man, and today’s Bristol-based incarnation features the solid, chunky bass of Latch Manghat, and distorted blues riffs from Chris D’Avoine and Sol Latif. Ecstatic and unconventional chord progressions push boundaries, wah-wah and whammy bar adding more nervy thrills to the memorable occasion. With the last notes ebbing away, there’s a warming glow of continuity, as the circle is completed and another constantly surprising Sardonicus special is done.
We’ve seen heaven in a wildflower, and contemplated eons of humanity. We’ve shouted at dystopia and apologised to nature. We’ve released the old and embraced the new, have shiny wet noses and silky coats again – for as Mascot Moth say, “The whole thing is tribal. It’s a mutual therapy session!”
Dr Sardonicus’ Winter Festival VI, The Cellar, Cardigan, Fri 23-Sun 25 Feb
words JULIA DELI photos JANICE HOLDEN