MAMMOTH TOE is a psychedelic/post-rock band from Bristol, UK. The three members of the band started out in 2016 and quickly booked a load of gigs, while also laying down an album’s worth of tracks in just three months. Sometime after, the founder of the group who is the bassist, decided to do some traveling, but during that time he had an unfortunate encounter with a white tail spider causing an infection and a subsequent skin graft. Man, sometimes you got to pay your dues if you want to rock – but, yikes! Despite this, the band pulled off one gig and the bass player was able to mix the band’s debut EP, Pink Lady, and release a solo album of his own. The band describes their sound as “big’ – creating grooves, rhythms and riffs that “people can latch onto.” Their influences are broad, but if you’re into the soundscape vibe of Jakob, and bands such as Russian Circles, Amplifier and Porcupine Tree, then have a listen.

“OcTOEpussy” starts things off with a fuzzy, psych-rock dreamy sound, coupled with a heavy epic rock style. I liked the drumming and there were a lot of great layers and textures going on, especially as the song further progressed. I think the band captured the soundscape style quite nicely. I’m not sure how they did the effects towards the end, but they were very cool.

The first song melts into “Pink Lady” – a song that sounds like what would happen if you played a record backwards. The drums break in on top of that, then more guitar effects and then, maddening energy for a short time, until somewhat returning back to how the song started. I think the highlight to this number was – well, everything – but especially the groove happening between the bass player and the drummer. A lot of great twists and turns in there, too many to mention.

“GorgonZilla” features a lighter sound with melodious guitar and crisp, rim shot/hi-hat playing to start off. Some great echoing effects, too. After a bit, the band funks up the beat and then goes into a psychedelic vibe, light and airy. After four minutes, the band doesn’t hold back – reaching into a fury of sound and making me wonder how the hell they even achieved it. They cut off the song abruptly, kind of leaving the listener hanging, which I thought was brilliant!

The last tune is “HousePlant” and it’s by far the longest on the EP. The intro is spacey and “magical” sounding as if something fantastical is about to occur – in my opinion, it would do nicely on some science fiction concept album. The drums come in after three minutes in a jazz-like, slow rhythmic way, while the key effects and guitars are layered on top. This one has that special epic narrative quality that makes me want to break out my copy of Floyd’s Dark Side of Moon. Further in, the band juxtaposes these dreamy sounds with explosive energy that’s fused with rock-funk-progressiveness – damn sweet! The band bounces back and forth between those two styles again until sometime after the nine-minute mark they just go full bore, holding nothing back. And the ending here again, made me ask – how did they do that?  And while I may or may not figure that one out, how about in the meantime, a full-length album.