The New Jersey-based avant-garde jam band Garcia Peoples follow-up their breakthrough 2018 album Cosmic Cash with a steady stream of live performances, residencies, and a sound that changes a bit between each record. Garcia Peoples are heavily influenced by open-ended improvisation and psychedelia of classic jam band acts like The Grateful Dead, but also from art-rock bands like Television and southern rock bands Allman Brothers. With the 2019 release One Step Behind, the band expanded to a six-piece lineup and added Avant-jazz flourishes to their sound, but with Nightcap at Wits’ End, they switch things again with a set of concisely composed songs. Standout tracks include: the rowdy opener “Gliding Through”; the mystical folk-rocker “Altered Place”; the mellow drifty “Fire of the Now”; the meditative “Crown of Thought”; and the droning finger-picked “A Reckoning.” Garcia Peoples’ Nightcap at Wits End at times recalls sounds from past predecessors while carving out a sound of their own. – Written by JFelton
SIMILAR | Jerry Garcia Band, Grateful Dead, Howlin Rain, Pacific Range, Rose City Band