Review

If you’re going to play space-oriented rock, Kohoutek might tell you, don’t mess around. The Philadelphia-based ensemble, whose membership orbits around percussionist Scott Verrastro, is named after a cosmic body that flared brightly in 1974.

Like a comet, Kohoutek is only occasionally present. While the group has been extent since 2003, Akvoturo is its first LP in about half a decade. Duration matters in other ways, as well. Two of the album’s four tracks, “Inundo” and “Irigacio,” last 19 minutes apiece, and the longer you hang with them, the further out they’ll take you. Both travel a throbbing space way that links Hawkwind to fellow Philadelphians Bardo Pond, one where an unhurried and ever-shifting beat and some remorseless guitar action wear grooves into your consciousness.

Perhaps, observant reader, you have already started wondering, “What’s up with the Esperanto titles?” They signal a couple things. All of them refer in some way to water, thus telegraphing Kohoutek’s intention to inundate. But it also acknowledges the music’s eagerness to communicate. Guitars recede into the background on the two shorter tracks, making room for winding marimba figures and restless textural playing to come to the fore. Alternately spacey and heavy, Akvoturo is well equipped to take you elsewhere. [Carbon/Feeding Tube]