They’re on a search for space, and on their 80-minute debut cassette, Scottish psych rockers The Cosmic Dead find it. The tape is self-titled and also known as Cozmik Tape I, released by Who Can You Trust? Records, and the band seems to be centered around a varied lineup, mostly instrumental guitar-bass-drums three-piece with synth added. If all that sounds pretty nebulous, the music contained on the four tracks of The Cosmic Dead follows suit, geared as it is toward massive Hawkwindian swirling jams. Side A feels grand enough, with opener “The Black Rabbit” stretching toward 19 minutes, “Spice Melange Spectrum” at a relatively manageable 6:45 and “The Slow Dead of the Infinite Godhead” at 13:44, but The Cosmic Dead are just waiting for the side to flip so they can unleash the interstellar sprawl of timebending they’ve dubbed “Father Sky, Mother Earth” – a solid 40 minutes (okay, it’s only 39:59) of multidimensional psychedelia. Kudos to the band for being able to pay attention to what they’re doing for that long, let alone making something anyone might want to hear out of it.

But then, I guess that is the question. As The Cosmic Dead propel toward the outer limits of deep space (rock), the number of those who are going to be willing to follow them on the trip is going to dwindle, and though “Father Sky, Mother Earth” unfolds gracefully over the course of its first 10 minutes or so, James T. McKay topping oscillator noise with sporadic soft guitar flourishes, one might already be so hypnotized by the preceding 39 minutes of material that they miss it completely when the song begins to pick up. I guess that’s the tradeoff with this kind of psychedelia, that in part you’re just supposed to go with it wherever it takes you, but to miss out on the quality bass work of Omar Aborida (who appears on “Father Sky, Mother Earth” and “The Slow Death of the Infinite Godhead,” while Josh Longton handles duties for the first two cuts on Side A) is really a loss. The songs are worth paying attention to, is the point I’m making, but it’s hard to do that on a release so densely packed and purposefully repetitive. Life is busy. A lot can happen in 80 minutes.

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So the headline’s a bit misleading. They’re going to jail more in the Johnny Cash sense than the Nick Oliveri sense. Either way, it’s a fascinating story. The classic Scottish heavy rockers will also release their soon-to-be-reviewed new album, A Different Game, through Ripple Music on Oct. 4. Obviously, more on that to come, but in the meantime, it seems playing to prisoners isn’t the extent of Iron Claw‘s charitable nature.

The PR wire has details:

Scottish proto-metal pioneers Iron Claw return with a long-awaited album of gritty, blues-based melodic heavy rock that is already garnering album-of-the-year accolades from the press. The 13-track album, A Different Game, is scheduled for UK release on Oct. 3 and worldwide release on Oct. 4, just in time for the band’s CD release event to be held at the Barlinnie Prison in Glasgow, Scotland on Oct. 5.

“The release of this album marks the realization of a lifelong dream for each of us in the band,” says guitarist Jimmy Ronnie. “To be honest, it’s something that I had thought had passed me by. But it’s not just any album. It’s the record that Iron Claw always needed to make — hard, heavy, guitar-based rock with its roots in the blues. I’m delighted to say that we’ve succeeded in capturing the live spirit of the band on this record.”

The Barlinnie Prison gig is more than just a CD release event. The performance is sponsored by Governor Derek McGill to help show the prisoners that there are healthier alternatives to crime, such as playing and creating emotionally stimulating music.

“I am confident the prisoners in Barlinnie will love this gig,” McGill states, “This is not about entertainment for prisoners; it is to let them see alternative recreational pursuits that can lead them away from crime, introduce them to hobbies such as music that can give them a fresh start.”

The benevolent beings of Iron Claw have also announced that they will be headlining a charity event on Sep. 25 at Comlongon Rocks, which will assist Cash for Kids and Cancer Research. 22 bands and six DJs, and all for a mere £10! For more information, please follow the link: http://www.comlongonrocks.com

It would be literal nonsense — in that it wouldn’t make any sense at all — for me to review Hawk, the new collaboration record between Isobel Campbell (formerly of Belle and Sebastian) and Mark Lanegan (ex-Screaming Trees, Queens of the Stone Age, etc.), but I got it today and some of it is pretty killer in a moody pop kind of way. I don’t know what it’s doing out by you, but “Snake Song” is perfect for the gray humidity inflicting itself on the valley this evening. Enjoy: