When The Wytches’ Kristian Bell tested his microphone before this interview and session for WFUV’s The Alternate Side in The Bronx, he said “We Have Assumed Control!”  Evidently this is KB’s preferred phrase for checking levels because he applauded me as the first person who recognized that he was referencing the Rush album 2112.  It turned out Kristian and band-mates Daniel Rumsey (who also participated in the interview) and Gianni Honey (who didn’t despite his excellent name) have a lot of influences – Dick Dale and Duane Eddy included – that might not be immediately plain at first listen to the group‘s debut Annabel Dream Reader.   This makes for a rich and rewarding listening experience beyond the Black Sabbath and Misfits foundation that their name suggests.  Bell labeled the sound Surf Doom!  Spend some time with Bell – who loves his whammy bar – and the rest of this trio from Brighton, England but whose record came out on Partisan – the Brooklyn label that also boasts Phox, John Grant, and Deer Tick on their excellent roster.

The Wytches choose analog over digital and are playing in Brooklyn (Baby’s All Right)  tonight and Manhattan (Mercury Lounge) tomorrow night.  If you click the link, you’ll get video of two songs – Darker and Gravedweller – plus 25 minutes of audio only conversation. If you go to one of the shows, expect plenty of new stuff as Annabel Dream Reader (I forgot to ask if the title was a nod to Edgar Allan Poe’s poem Annabel Lee) is quickly receding into the rear view mirror as they are enthusiastic about new songs they’ve been working on.  Tonight at Baby’s All Right, they headline a bill that also features Heliotropes, Sunflower Bean, and Yabadum.  It starts at 8 so the fellas will be on late.  Monday’s show at The Mercury Lounge is an early one with LODRO and The Teen Age supporting.