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Montreal Mirror – ‘Pass It On’ Album Review

Finally, a psychedelic band that successfully crosses generations, appealing equally to old school bong-bubblers, kinky krautrockers and the new school of psychedelic stooges. Can-style jams, trance-inducing drones and Ummagumma-era Pink Floyd ambiance may be the foundation here but these improv jams easily break from the tether of their influences and soar righteously through the stratosphere. Freak out!

THE DREADED PRESS – ‘Pass It On’ Album Review

"Look, if you like psychedelic wig-out jams and wide-screen instrumental weirdness that layers on the effects with the proverbial builder’s trowel, then you’re gonna dig Carlton Melton‘s vibe in a big way." Read the full review »

Sonic Abuse – ‘Pass It On’ Album Review

"There are bands, and on this website we are lucky enough to deal with a fair few of them, who defy convention and easy categorisation. Reference points may be offered, but essentially such bands exist in their own little world, utterly unaffected by trends or popularist concerns. Carlton Melton are one such band – a wilfully psychedelic beast tinged with blues, doom, drone and feral rock energy that recall the majesty of Earthless and the spontaneity of early Pink Floyd (whom they cover on the first track ‘when you’re in’)." Read the full review »

"WAS IST DAS?" reviews 'Pass It On'

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Aquarius Records reviews the new Carlton Melton/Empty Shapes Split LP:

"We sold tons of the last Carlton Melton full length, Pass It On. In fact we even sold a copy to J. Mascis who made it his top favorite record of 2009. No small feat, there! So the dudes are on a roll, and just before their first big tour, they release this awesome split with the equally heavy Empty Shapes from Delaware. The Carlton Melton side is two tracks. The first, "Call and Response" is nearly side-loooong and begins with a heavy rumble of monolithic sludge eventually progressing into a slow wave of burnt-out blues riffage a la early Comets on Fire, that churns and steeps into a gnarly brew of molten fuzz. The closer, "Purer", is more cosmic and dreamy, built on a layer of percolating synth drones that give way to a more uplifting space rock jam trajectory. This is the first we've heard from Empty Shapes, a 5 piece from Delaware, who contribute 3 tracks to their side. The first, "MLK" is a sprawling cloud of noise a la Bardo Pond, levitating around a repeating head-nodding riff with all kinds of instrumentation stretching the form and shape of the murky haze. "Hell of a Night" and "Lord" bring vocal elements into the works, but heavily effected and damaged, sometimes emotive yet incomprehensible channeling a primitive psych-blues through some New Zealandish free-rock space clutter! "

» Andy and Rich guest deejay archive on KUSF with host Stereo Steve : 4/23/10

» Carlton Melton perform "When You're In" live at the New Parish in Oakland
on Friday, March 5, 2010

» Dave W (White Hills) Rocket Records reviews Carlton Melton

» Bad Acid Magazine reviews Carlton Melton

» CARLTON MELTON lands on J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.) Top 10 list for 2009.

» The UK is listening to Carlton Melton. Reviewed here.

Carlton Melton reviewed by Aquarius Records, SF:

"The field of psychedelic hypnno-drone rock in San Francisco keeps getting wider, and more amazing. Along with Wooden Shjips, Sleepy Sun and The Lumerians comes the slow growth space rock of Carlton Melton. We raved about their first self-released cd-r, Live at Point Arena, CA recorded in a genuine geodesic dome, and we're psyched that they have returned with a vinyl only follow-up! While the first cd-r had a more rough around the edges shambling momentum to it (after all, the band had pretty much formed just to record in the dome!), Pass It On has a more penetrating and focused feel. Recording in the dome once again, the songs have the slow motion but still very heavy vibrations of White Hills, Moon Duo, Hawkwind and Pink Floyd. In fact, the album begins with a heavy cover version of Pink Floyd's "When You're In" from Obscured By Clouds, which builds with intensity setting up the stoned pillowy cushion freefall of follow-up track "Found Children". "Off The Grid" takes a more divergent path through the woods with freaked out tribal rhythms and strange loping pulsations and alien guitar swells. Side two begins with a reworking of a track from the Point Arena cd-r called "Fucking Funky Shit" now renamed "Digging In" that utilizes its bass and drum rhythmic foundation as a means for the guitars and organ to arc off into the stratosphere before descending into the final track "Sequoia", which burrows deep into the earth with a smouldering drone that leaves us, for the lack of a better analogy, cosmically wasted. On redwood colored vinyl. Recommended!"