This collaboration between a pair of the UK’s top-end psych-cosmic musicians feels like an inevitability. Sheffield-based guitarist Bobby Lee and London pedal steel player Joe Harvey-Whyte have shared a stage before, but their styles and interest in a more adventurous sound made studio sessions seem a given. Thankfully then, the stars aligned, and here we have Last Ride, an ace full-length set dropped by California’s Curation Records.
Some albums just come straight in like a warm sonic hug, and you know you’ll spend a long time enjoying their vibe; Last Ride is one of these. I defy anyone to find fault with the easy-natured character of opening song, Flatbed Alfalfa Run to Pueblo, Colorado, Fall 1972, which feels like driving towards a pink and purple Californian sunset. The spare programmed drum track pins the beat down while Joe and Bobby have fun riffing in front of it. Both the guitar and pedal steel sound organic here; you can hear the quality of the amps, almost muffled in that vintage kind of way in places, giving the music life and the kind of chilled confidence everyone wants to be friends with. And those bendy lower notes coming in in the final third are totally ace.
Starker in character are songs like Deep Time and Sagebrush Fire. The former is a reverb-heavy, loosely structured piece that allows its notes to echo on forever, giving the music an isolated feel. The melody kicks in more towards the end, lending the song a defining nature that neatly contradicts its first half. Sagebrush Fire is built on a steadier guitar refrain, to which Joe adds rich pedal steel sweeps. The slow pace of the music and hint of melancholy in the hammer-on guitar part give this one equal beauty and seriousness, with an air more akin to a downbeat aftermath.
Altogether weirder is Grass Covered the Ground, which uses disparate notes and swirls of sound to conjure something otherworldly. These slower, stranger songs are where this duo excel, with manipulated guitar notes and slices of silver pedal steel building an eerie atmosphere. That said, drone centred track Digital Cetaceans is just as strong and just as weird, with a more solid band of deep sound at its core that the lighter notes dance around like threads of light. With lower notes playing the part of the whales and the more playful beeps bringing the dolphins to mind, this brief, deep little number is quite memorable.
But the whole of Last Ride is a success, with the upbeat numbers sitting comfortably alongside more serious music and giving the album, as a whole, a broad range set through the lens of electric guitar and lap steel, with drum machine, synths and other instruments embellishing in places. It feels like it was a lot of fun to make, and it is a total pleasure to listen to.
Last Ride (May 16th, 2025) Curation Records
Bandcamp: https://curation-records.bandcamp.com/album/last-ride