Steve
I've only been a fan for a short while but the 1st 2 albums I bought are awesome. Someone posted "Ignorance Makes Me High" on Reddit & it freakin' blew me away. Bass & drum groove give away to one badass guitar... Can't wait to listen to the rest of the album 🤘
Favorite track: Ignorance Makes Me High.
*Side Effects May Include: MILD TO MODERATE DEATH*
Wow! Am i listening to Pontiak or Pink Floyd/David Gilmour?? This is very impressive space psych! I'm way late to the party but happy i found it.
Favorite track: Hidden Prettiness.
Whereas Pontiak’s 2014 album Innocence tore through rowdy riffs and melancholic balladry in a neat half hour, it’s immediately clear from the reverb-heavy trip of opener ‘Easy Does It’ that Dialectic of Ignorance is altogether a different beast. Euphorically defying spatial constraint, brothers Jennings, Van and Lain Carney instead opt to guide each song along its own cosmic trajectory: confident in the outcome, but even more excited to enjoy the ride.
Bloody-knuckled basslines bring a snarling Desert Session groove to ‘Ignorance Makes Me High’ and ‘Herb Is My Next Door Neighbor’, whilst woozy Gilmour-esque vocal harmonies imbue ‘Hidden Prettiness’ and ‘Youth and Age’ with a psychoacoustic dose of cerebral inertia. Those who have seen the brothers perform live know of their ability to harmonize, but Dialectic of Ignorance is the first album in which this talent is showcased in every song. ‘We Fucked Up’ is a pedal to the metal stoner-psych opus, while ‘Tomorrow Is Forgotten’ burns hot and slow; potent from the first note whilst relentlessly cranking up the intensity.
Pontiak grew up and live on farms in rural Virginia. Dialectic of Ignorance’s expansive structures echo the rugged, hazy climbs of this Blue Ridge Mountain setting, but don’t be fooled; this is no mere collection of pastoral instrumental landscapes. Having opened their own brewery in August 2015, the Carney brothers have had the opportunity to reassess their creative process through brewing. The lessons learned from this experimentation have had a formative effect on the both the process underlying and subsequent sound of Dialectic of Ignorance.
“There’s a definite dovetail between brewing and music,” explains Pontiak guitarist and lead vocalist Van Carney. “Both are creative processes that are full of immediate possibility. In the studio you face logistical, technical and creative challenges that are constantly evolving; it’s on you as the creator to decide which path you want to take. Brewing is no different.”
An expanded awareness of process has emboldened Pontiak’s musical explorations on Dialectic of Ignorance. “There’s beauty and truth and goodness in all hardships, and it takes strength to see that,” Van adds. “We learned that there’s limitless opportunity ahead if you’re ready to pursue it.” Literary influence was also important, with particular inspiration drawn from Karl Ove Knausgård’s sprawling confessional style, and the expressive, highly visual approach mastered by writers such as Bohumil Hrabal and Leo Tolstoy.
With post-truth politics implementing lasting change through manufactured narratives, the creative ownership Pontiak display on Dialectic of Ignorance is both elevating and empowering. Still, “it’s not a political album,” Van asserts. “The message we want to get across is the importance of being present in the moment. Maybe everything is fucked. But you can do something about that.”
Dialectic of Ignorance was recorded between January and October 2016 in Pontiak’s own ‘Studio A’ in Virginia. “Running the brewery definitely stretched the process out, but that was a good thing,” says Van. “It gave us time to think, mull over things, and throw stuff away when necessary. We’d come in to the brewery early each morning, put on what we’d recorded the previous day, listen to it while we worked, and shoot ideas at each other. It was a meditative, flowing process.”
Pontiak is three brothers that grew up and live on farms in Virginia. Their lifelong closeness yields uncommon musical
understanding, creative collaboration and personal camaraderie. Having opened their own brewery in August 2015, the Carney brothers have had the opportunity to reassess their creative process through brewing....more
supported by 31 fans who also own “Dialectic of Ignorance”
Good sound for a road trip !!! The stoner rock atmosphere as relaxed as driving on the open road while the wind blows your head clear through the car window. Stephan
Sustained by seismic psych riffs, proggy shifts, and vivid sci-fi storytelling, these Milwaukee cosmonauts command respect. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 29, 2023
Brighton, UK band leaven surging hard rock with spaced-out stoner-doom on their second LP, recorded in an old chapel on the English coast. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 9, 2022
supported by 30 fans who also own “Dialectic of Ignorance”
For some reason, what I previewed and the real songs was somewhat different - maybe because of the cover art?
But I definitely don't regret something more spacial than expected. The recent Ocean drifting in space. frankwurst