Things to know about SMOKEY MIRROR: They are from Texas. They pretty much had to be. Geographically they are from Dallas, psychically I'm calling it Austin. If I had to give them a timeline, I'd say 1972. Label-wise, they can be found on Rise Above Records, which is a hellavu place to land with a debut album! Musically, I'd characterize them as Jam Band Psych Blues-a little jazzy, very bluesy, somewhat heavy, and wholly unregulated. All good things. They released a five-track EP in 2017, which is as good as it is raw. Their 2023 debut full-length resurrects several of the 2017 tracks and adds many more. Still raw, still heavy, still very, very good.

If you're looking to discover an unheard-of band that even if they don't get anywhere will still be great by virtue of their debut album, you found 'em. SMOKEY MIRROR has the vibe that one band you heard that one time in that club in Gruene, Texas that blew you away and then you never heard of them again . . . except this time we're hoping to rewrite the ending.

Nine tracks, 43 minutes of an eclectic mix that haunts the swamps Georgia and plains of Texas. A couple of acoustic interludes (mid-album and closer), and one Zappa-eqsque instrumental (aptly entitled "Alpha-State Dissociative Trance"). These shorter tracks are counterbalanced with much longer jams like "Magick Circle" (ALMAN BROTHERS meet CLUTCH) and "Sacrificial Altar" (ALMAN BROTHERS meet 1000MODS then have an affair with BLACK SABBATH). I like SMOKEY MIRROR best when they stick to Hard Rock script-"Invisible Hand" and "Pathless Forest." I appreciate and fully dig their obvious talents in longer jam tracks like "Magick Circle" and Sacrificial Altar." And they make me nervous as fuck with tracks like "A Thousand Days in the Desert" and "Who's to Say"-I just don't know where they're going to end up. Are we going jazz, blues, or punk? Which is not a bad thing and, in fact, may be one of their major appeals.

On the downside, SMOKEY MIRROR has the marketing presence of tan on beige. This extends to their choice of cover art, which is either juvenile or brilliant, but decidedly DIY. They should also bone up on vocals. They are too good as musicians to have subpar vocals detract from their core. In the end, though, SMOKEY MIRROR grows on you. And not in a bad way like life encroaching fungus. More like a taste for Bourbon or Cajun food-It's good in the beginning and just keeps getting better the more you go at it.

If I'm lucky, I'll catch SMOKEY MIRROR at some place like the Scout Bar in Houston or Come & Take it in Austin this summer. Or maybe at an outdoor gig with fresh bar-b-que and cold beers drifting through the biergarten and hot riffs tearing through the amps. I could get with that. Until then I have their S/T EP and now their S/T LP to keep me and my neighbors up all night.