The core of the electrifying riffing and hard jamming unit Glyders are Joshua Condon on guitar and vocals, alongside Eliza Weber on bass, but that does not tell the whole story. There is a bigger sound and the energy of a larger unit easily detectable in this band’s music. That is in part down to the fuel they pour into the tank whenever they can get anywhere near a studio and also down to their finding, ahead of this album’s creation, a drummer by the name of Joe Seger who, by their own admission, fitted the drum stool and overall sound like a glove. Based in Chicago but heavily touring for the last couple of years, finding this vital missing ingredient to their set-up sounds like it has made all the difference for Glyders; even when they were recording their 2023 debut album Maria’s Hunt, they still had no permanent occupant of the drum kit, but now they finally feel complete. It is obvious from this end product that there are two big winners from this happy cohesion and sense of purpose: the audience and the music itself.
While all this live trekking has been taking place, not only across the US but in Europe as well, the band have been sufficiently fired up by the sounds they are making and the ideas raining down to ensure they get themselves near a tape machine to capture this magic as often as possible. This is why they are regarding Forever as their first real band album, because it has grown into its final identity in real time as the three fevered musicians play off each other’s momentum. The material has been worked up primarily in front of an audience on spit and sawdust stages across the land, and, as is very often the case when there are people grooving to your sounds, the music has, to put it in the most basic of terms, become more assertive. They have neatly avoided the pitfall of indulgent riffing by paying heed to the core element that breathed life into Glyders in the first place, a sensitive ear and appreciation of old-school tunesmithery. It undoubtedly was the approach and honest recording techniques of masters like The Band, Credence Clearwater Revival and Leon Russell that they had in mind when knuckling down to the task of nailing these pieces at their own studio in Chicago’s Humboldt Park.
So, what have we got in this action-packed 36 minutes of voltage-enhanced excitement? Eight songs that are akin to an electric blues fly-past, nothing is outstaying its welcome and everything is putting a foot to the floor with a determination to go for “quite a ride”, as Joshua himself sings while Eliza twirls the bass lines into a giddy spin on opener Super Glyde. This is a fantastic place to begin and honours a classic rock tradition of bands announcing themselves with a self-referencing statement of intent. Moon Eyes has a heart full of Byrds-y country rock attached to laid back strumming and an overwhelming essence of chill. Stone Shadow is tripping over with buzzing, vibrating pace and purpose to the extent you can almost feel the song catching up and threatening to lap itself. Hard Ride has the kind of simmering opening minute that just has to lead to an eruption, but it teases, instead holding the tension as the song sends waves of futuristic 70s glam lifeblood circulating through your senses, if you can imagine such a thing. New Realm hovers in a funky, shuffling terrain whilst RTZ goes full throttle, a brief interlude that could just as easily usher in some Issac Hayes as the blues wig-out we actually land on with Steppin’/Tell Me About The Rabbit.
That penultimate number, resplendent with gallons of fuzz guitar and loose as a goose bass and drum interplay, serves as a sonic peak for the album as a whole. All that is left thereafter is to move further on up the road with the winsome electric country jangle of Thousand Miles. It suggests that the road is still very much an open-ended mystery tour for these sonic Glyders, that the newfound stability of this three-piece has opened up a range of possibilities in both song and performance. If they can keep on stirring their strange brew to the boil as they have on this album, then their pathway to a Glyders Forever should have only just begun.
Forever (November 21st, 2025) Drag City
Bandcamp: https://glyders.bandcamp.com/album/forever