Motor Earth is the third full-length offering from garage-psych maestro Brett Sova and his solo project Axis: Sova. Joined by guitarist Tim Kaiser and percussionist/engineer Cooper Crain (Bitchin Bajas, Cave), Motor Earth deepens the Chicago native's explorations of scuzzy drum machine-propelled boogies and wild, dirty guitar rock. With a name inspired by Jimi Hendrix's Axis: Bold as Love, guitar remains the central element in Sova's arsenal and he roars out of the gate with "Love Identity," an eight-and-a-half-minute, straight from the gut rocker with plenty of dueling solos and a lengthy feedback wash for a caboose. It handily serves to announce Sova's method of operation, and both its length and tone will likely determine which listeners stay on board and which drop out. Those who stick around are treated to a further barrage of riffy, freewheeling tracks like "Sanity Range" and "Violent Yellow," which have enough melody to captivate while still letting Sova and Kaiser's free range guitars wiggle around and do their business. For all of its loose, space traveling jams and lo-fi fug, the primary riffs throughout Motor Earth are generally tight and hooky. You can feel a distinctive run-up to some of the freakout solos, especially on "Emoticog," whose soaring fuzz leads suddenly tighten back up into dynamic cyclical licks. It lends some nice subtlety to the proceedings, which occasionally veer into unfocused psych jamming. Overall, Sova's admiration for '70s hard rock helps inject enough attitude into Motor Earth to make it a fun and engaging listen.