The Winstons - The Winstons

This here for me is one of those unexpected debut albums that had my ears glowing brightly on earphones waiting for something unexpected and out of this world. And that band who carry the essences of Psychedelic Music, Garage Rock, and the Canterbury scene in the history of Progressive Rock is a trio called, The Winstons. They are from Milan, Italy and when I’ve listened to one of their samples and being in awe of the artwork done by Japanese artist Gun Kawamura, I knew I had to buy this album straight away.

And right from the moment I put the CD on, I was sent on a journey that almost made me feel as if they recorded this back in the golden-era of the Progressive Rock scene. They carry the essence of the Syd Barrett-era of Pink Floyd, The Doors, Caravan, Soft Machine, Arzachel, and Jennifer Gentle. The trio considers under the fictional names of Linnon, Rob, and Enro Winston. But they are in real life; Enrico Gabrielli on Keyboards, Alto Sax, Bass Clarinet, and Lead Vocals (Calibro 35, Mariposa, and Der Maurer), Roberto Dell’Era (Afterhours) on Bass Guitar, and Lino Gitto on Drums.

It is this blasting and hypnotic debut in which the trio just goes into town with an Avant-Psych-Prog Canterbury approach that just send shivers and arm hairs going up at the exact momentum. The instrumental Viaggio Nei Suono A Tre Dimensioni is set into hyper-space rock featuring thunderous fuzztone bass lines, VOX organ-lines, and driven tempo drums setting the course into the Milky Way that screams early Floyd and Hawkwind.

She’s My Face does remind me of the late great Ray Manzarek’s keyboard playing in which Enrico does to pay tribute to the legend who brought The Doors sound and resembling the Strange Days-era while Nicotine Freak sees The Winstons paying homage to the Canterbury backing vocal arrangers of The Northettes before delving into a Psychedelic voyage into the Outer Limits that you can imagine this being performed in the swinging ‘60s at the 14-hour Technicolor Dream that would send you on a trip like never before.

The ¾ Jazz-Psych Rock blasts more into the adventures of the trio’s music as they sing in Japan in which Kawamura himself wrote the lyrics for on Diprotodon. As both Gabrielli and Dell’Era share vocals with each other as they channel the early Soft Machine sound and Mike Rateledge’s blaring fuzz Organ that gives it a shrieking and melodic groove before the Saxes come in and then back into the Waltz that you can delve into.

Play with the Rebels channels the ascending momentum of a Beatle-sque ballad as they delve more into the early Pink Floyd again with a crossovers between A Saucerful of Secrets meets the Ummagumma sessions for …On a Dark Cloud. It’s a beautiful homage to Richard Wright and David Gilmour’s playing at the time he joined the band in 1968. There’s this film-score quality that I like about this as if they were doing a score for one of my favorite filmmakers in the surreal world of Alejandro Jodorowsky.

Some will love or hate The Winstons music. For me, I adore it from I put it on my Portable CD player.  This isn’t your typical Prog-Rock band, this is a band and project that I hope the trio will continue to do more in the near future to see what lies ahead in the years to come. AMS Records released their sole self-titled debut this year and I welcome it with open arms.

So if you love the Psychedelic Jazz Rock, Canterbury Prog, and the hidden treasures what they bring to the kitchen table, then be prepare to delve into the music of The Winstons. This is an album that might be played loud and turn it up at the right moment for an amazing psychedelic avant-garde adventure that you will experience.