There’s so much character and creativity in this record by Winged Wheel. I have been enjoying it more than most of their experimental/kraut contemporaries and find it better than their (excellent) first record.

Unlike their first record, 2022s No Island, their sophomore album Big Hotel was recorded in person in a professional studio instead of at the members separate homes. They recorded long jams in the studio and cut them down to tight-but-spacious psych rock songs. Winged Wheel will be enjoyed by anyone who loves shoegaze/post punk vibes in their psych, with the lovely dreamy vocals, the swirling guitars and the quietly heavy rhythm section. Big Hotel has that classic Krautrock crispness like early Can, more so than “No Island,” but the songs are still heavily constructed in the mix like other modern home studio supergroups like Perhaps. They capture and balance these different kinds of meticulously crafted or improvised creative moments gracefully, and it’s resulted in a very enjoyable and psychedelic album.