Howlin Rain

★★★★

The Dharma Wheel SILVER CURRENT. CD/DL/LP

After 2018’s The Alligator

Bride, a new high from Ethan Miller. Scarlet Rivera guests!

Ethan Miller is now probably one of the pre-eminent adventurers in Californian rock, tackling as he does various spiritual configurations of psych, roots, sludge, punk and all points in between with Comets On Fire, Heron Oblivion and Feral Ohms. For the past 15 years, the purest and most accessible distillation of Miller’s vision has been his albums fronting Howlin Rain: this is the sixth, and quite possibly the best. The Dharma

Wheel is a cosmic good-time record in the tradition of ’70s Dead, The Chris Robinson Brotherhood (that band’s Adam MacDougall is prominent here on trademark squelchy keys), canyons folk rock, Humble Pie and much else in your vinyl collection. Sprawling jams never overshadow memorable tunes; a very agile rhythm section keeps the grooves more propulsive than on some previous sets; elusive Rolling Thunder fiddler Scarlet Rivera guests, prominently; and Miller flexes his guitar hero bona fides on the tremendous 16-minute title track. A classic rock record, in all senses.