Steve Gunn and John Truscinski are back with a new duo album, their first since 2017’s Bay Head. It’s called Soundkeeper, and it’s part of Three Lobed’s 20th anniversary album series, which will also see releases from Sonic Youth, Six Organs Of Admittance, Body/Head, and Daniel Bachman. Soundkeeper will be out in October, and today Gunn and Truscinski have shared a new song from it.

It’s called “Valley Spiral,” and apparently it comes from a somewhat unexpected source of inspiration: Parliament-Funkadelic. Here’s what Gunn told the Fader about it:

For as long as John and I have played together, we’ve talked about Eddie Hazel’s guitar sound. The way he lets go on “Maggot Brain” reaches beyond the large shadows of rock and roll guitarists that were so happening at the time. Hazel’s use of the echoplex is inventive, and ultimately, has been extremely influential for decades. I am by no means trying to copy the man’s style, I wouldn’t know how, but I did feel a dedication was in order because we’ve talked about him so much over the years.

Like most of our material, “Valley Spiral” extended out of a riff that came out of our practice space one afternoon. In the studio we discussed trying to recreate the idea, while not pushing its limits. We wanted to work with restraint and not go too far over the edge with our playing, which is sometimes difficult for us. I quietly bash on a piano somewhere after the first few minutes to drive the song a bit — a new thing for us.

“Valley Spiral” is a roiling track, Truscinski’s shambling drums providing an anchor for Gunn’s hypnotic guitar playing. Check it out below.

TRACKLIST:

01 “Into”
02 “Gam”
03 “Distance”
04 “Valley Spiral”
05 “Pyramid Merchandise”
06 “Northwest”
07 “Ocean City”
08 “Soundkeeper”
09 “Closeness”
10 “Curtain”
11 “Windows”
12 “For Eddie Hazel”

CREDIT: Vera Marmelo

Soundkeeper is out 10/9 on Three Lobed. Pre-order it here.