Article Contributed by Calabro Music Media
Published on 2026-06-30
The Odyssey Cult has announced the release of Volume 3, due August 21 via Silver Current Records. Comprised of Ethan Miller (Howlin Rain), Ben Flashman (Comets On Fire), Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth), Anthony Taibi (Carlton Melton), Brigid Dawson (Osees), Paula Frazer (Tarnation), Inna Showalter (Magic Fig), and Zoh Amba, the indie all-star collective ignite visceral fires of fuzz, pumped-up motorik, shimmering noise, and hazy vocals, just in time to send up the last intoxicating smoke of summer. It also marks a reunion of sorts for Miller and Flashman, two of the principals in Comets On Fire, the premier purveyors of early-aughts American guitar mayhem. Reunited here as co-writers for the first time in the better part of two decades, they hammered out the framework for the album's eight tracks along with keyboardist Anthony Taibi (Carlton Melton/ White Manna) in the redwoods of Humboldt County.
Volume 3 launches with the set opener and first single, "The Yeti's Eyes," a sunroof-open jam for archetypal summer soundtracks, which sets the stage for the higher-octane space-ritual moves scattered around the record like asteroids.
Conceived nearly a decade ago, The Odyssey Cult has evolved from the frayed living-room guitar and percussion experimentation of its earlier manifestations (Volumes 1 and 2), mutating into a full-on rock maximalist gesture akin to Marble Sheep, Lemmy-era Hawkwind, or the dense slam inhabiting the harsher corners of shoegaze. Upon this foundation, Miller (guitar, loops, sounds), Flashman (bass), Taibi (keys), and Shelley (drums) layer psychedelic murk of the highest order, setting the stage for post-Ayler skronker Amba on sax, along with Dawson, Frazer, Showalter, and Miller himself on vocals, to soar atop the overdriven, uptempo-two-and-four rock moves and drifting dronescapes with shards of giant, anthemic choruses, always-sweet buried stoned lyrics, and an ever-intriguing wash of harmolodic colors.
“I hear bits and pieces of all our groups over the years in there like a witch’s cauldron boiling about; a little Comets On Fire eyeball floating up, a little Heron Oblivion foam frothing, a burnt hairy Feral Ohms hoof rolling to the surface and back down,” says Miller. "And the same is true with all the others and their past work; a little Sonic Youth spice here, a little Tarnation spice there. We didn’t intend it to be that way, but I guess in retrospect how could it not be that way? I suppose it’s this loose travel trunk of DNA we all bring to the table. I find it rather joyful to hear those fractured bits of mirrors go by in a new, previously unimagined context.”
In its totality, Volume 3 is a guileless fuzz-rock record fusing the best of all post-hippy/punk eras, complete with ear-worms that sound equally great by the pool, on headphones, or blasting in the sled cruising down the 5, the 10, or whatever freeway of your dreams. The final edifice is a neon rock monolith, its components spanning coasts and generations of musicians, reflecting all corners of sonic psychedelia.
VOLUME 3
Track Listing:
1. The Yeti's Eyes
2. Sun Damage
3. On Neon Tigers
4. Our First Trip
5. Leviathan
6. Back To The Cave
7. The Night Archer
8. Ammenglade
Out August 21 on Silver Current Records.
Pre-Order Vinyl & Digital Here
About the Artists
Zoh Amba first came to fame in the experimental world as a fearsome saxophone free jazz virtuoso and has since expanded into other realms of indie and underground music, first with the release of her New York City supergroup Beings, with Steve Gunn, Jim White and Shahzad Ismaily and again into a raw and wild eyed alt-country singer-songwriter vein with the recent release of Eyes Full for Matador Records.
Brigid Dawson is a long-time collaborator, singer and keyboardist/ tambourine player in the Osees, including vocal duties on their newly released album Off Course, as well as the singer-songwriter for her Krautrock meets garage-soul solo work as Brigid Dawson and The Mothers Network.
Ben Flashman is the bass player and founding member of Comets On Fire.
Paula Frazer is a San Francisco-based singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She has released albums on 4AD, Reprise and Birdman under her own name and as Tarnation. She helped form the legendary feminist punk group Frightwig and sang with Faith No More in their early incarnation, amongst numerous other tenures in Bay Area notables from her arrival in 1981 to present.
Ethan Miller is a central figure in the West Coast psychedelic and outer rock movements of the past two and a half decades, as well as a founding member of Comets On Fire, Feral Ohms, Heron Oblivion, Howlin Rain, The Odyssey Cult and Orcutt Shelley Miller and is the owner-curator of Silver Current Records.
Steve Shelley is best known as the drummer for alternative rock pioneers Sonic Youth. Shelley has been a driving force in the indie and experimental music scenes since the early 1980s. His dynamic drumming style has contributed to numerous projects, showcasing his versatility and commitment to pushing musical boundaries. Recent highlights have been his work with the avant indie group Winged Wheel and free-rock power trio Orcutt Shelley Miller.
Inna Showalter is a San Francisco based singer and songwriter in the prog-pop super group Magic Fig and Whitney’s Playland.
Anthony Taibi is best known as guitarist and keyboardist for the Humboldt County heavy psych outfit White Manna and San Francisco’s Carlton Melton as well as a member of the more jazz and ambient leaning experimental group Spunflower. He is also a record producer and engineer and owns and operates 3D Light Studio in Eureka, CA.
