Widespread Haze - Move (2022)

Tommy Whiteside (drums, vocals), Matthew Campbell (guitar, vocals) and Kristi Rifenbark (bass, vocals) describe their band Widespread Haze as “a time-travelling, hip-shaking, psychedelic rock ‘n’ roll trio, specializing in organic earworms and lyrical hash.” That’s pretty adequate phrasing for the sound on their self-recorded and self-produced debut full-length album Move – “a lifetime of genre-bending emotion, jam-packed into an hour-long joy ride” – although the local record store probably will file it under Southern rock. The 15 tracks here are bluesy and folky, raw and authentic, lighthearted and laid-back, entertaining and danceable, soulful and groovy, summery and cool, diverse and timeless. The musicians from Roseburg, Oregon (US) convey a live feeling, all three know how to sing and play to strike the right chord. When you put so much passion for Waffles into your opening track, you really can’t go wrong with what follows. This introduction to Widespread Haze is love at first hearing.