Astral Hand “Lords of Data” 2023. Romanus Records, limited edition tri-color variant. Heavy heavy psychedelic space rock from one of my favorite Milwaukee bands with their first album after their pandemic reformation into Astral Hand from Calliope. We missed the record release show in March (we went to see Iggy Pop instead, pretty sure singer/keyboardist Al Kraemer will forgive me!) but caught them last week at Anodyne for their WMSE Local/Live performance.

WMSE’s Local/Live shows are a mix of music and interview so the band got a chance to discuss the origins of Lords of Data. They initially wrote the album in the deep woods back in 2019 with the intention of releasing the record, as Calliope, in 2020. Well, we all know how that turned out. As the pandemic dragged on and on and they continued to write, they realized that the “60’s funhouse psychedelic” sound that the name Calliope implied no longer described the evolution of their music. Heavily (heavily) influenced by Dune (ie the tracks “Navigator,” “God Emperor“) and other works of sci-fi, they rebranded as Astral Hand and it fits their vibe completely. Melt-your-face hallucinogenic jams that swirl in the cosmos, both live and on wax, Lords of Data is a trip. My top track is “Universe Machine,” a thundering, beat-driven (courtesy of drummer Dan Dahl) mind-fuck’d ass-shaker that had me grooving at the show. “End of Man” is another killer head-banging rocker. Other great picks are “Contact” and the epic “Psychedelicide.” The Local/Live show is their last for awhile as the bassist’s wife just had a baby (or is about to??) but I’ll be looking forward to catching a complete set from Astral Hand soon.