File: #16 by Earth Jerks

“EartH Jerks is niche public service

Ambient polyphonic sensory absence, heavy on the abeyances,
Grit and torsion,
Rubrick futurism,and rule manipulation,big smart alec credentials abound..”

If these are “disposable jams”—as the artist’s enigmatic Bandcamp page describes—then what would jams of the indispensable kind sound like? Is there even such a thing?

Questions abound, but answers are hard to come by in the time-bending drone soundscape of File: #16, the latest full-length album by Earth Jerks. The artist behind this “band” has been making music in SF for nearly three decades and collaborates with Phil Manley, whose experimental rock work in local band Terry Gross we enjoy greatly (most recently on the 2024 album Huge Improvement).

On File #16, Earth Jerks makes full use of time-bending studio play, ambient organ moodiness, and crunchy guitar effects to the moon and back to methodically weave a satisfyingly rich tapestry of hum. Often it’s just texture and fuzzy bliss or some electrified strumming simply set in reverse, but sometimes even the merest of distinctive melodies reverberates out of the wash (as on “Importance of Exportant”). Good drone, whether deep in meditation or just plain stoned.

Listen on Bandcamp →