Power rock duo Deap Vally‘s new album is due out September 15th and is titled, I kid you not, Femejism. This is perhaps the greatest album title of all time.
Deep Vally’s full-length debut, Sistrionix, was my favorite album of 2013. Lindsey Troy and Julie Edwards came out gunning with that record, and I played it for everyone I could find and bought it as a Christmas gift for my goddaughter.
The first single off Femejism, “Royal Jelly,” reminded us that these two ladies are high-level rockers and left us hungry for more. They’ve since released “Smile More,” and it’s a killer power anthem.
You can pre-order Femejism now, and ordering through Deap Vally’s website can get you cool gear like signed Polaroids, shirts, and even a glow-in-dark blue vinyl LP. Get it while you can.
[Rewind Reviews are reviews of albums that are over a year old by the time I hear them.]
Strange Lot’s debut EP, Walk of the Sun, is a portent of great things to come. Made when the band was a two-piece with Dominic Mena on bass, guitar, and vocals and Tim Lormor on drums, all four tracks are excellent psych-fuzz.
“Upside Dwners” starts like trippy mellow stuff you’d hum around a hippie campfire, but it soon bursts into glorious shimmering power pop (but with heavily reverbed vocals). “Stompr” is appropriately named because Lormor stomps out a killer beat on it while Mena gets weird and bluesy with his guitar licks. “Fiction” sounds a bit like early (as in Mongoloid Years) Devo cuts – sizzling rock drums backing distorted guitars and wild vocals. The title track is a full blast of psychedelia that needs blared from the speakers of your Vanagon.
I’m glad these guys released a full-length album (Another Mind) after this, because to not follow-up on such a good record would’ve been a travesty.
It’s intriguing that Israeli shoegaze trio Vaadat Charigim (Yuval Haring – guitar and vocals, Yuval Guttman – drums, Dan Bloch – bass) would make an album about boredom that is actually mesmerizing. Sinking as a Stone is about various types of boredom and ennui felt by young people living in Tel Aviv (work, life, relationships, waiting for coffee, etc.), but the album is so lush and dreamy that you can’t be bored by it. It’s a panacea for its theme.
For example, the opener, “Neshel,” is almost eleven minutes long – about the time you’d wait for a halfway decent chai – but it swirls around you with such ghostly guitars and vocals that the song goes by before the barista has your order ready. “Hadavar Haamiti” is power shoegaze in the vein of the Jesus and Mary Chain and will have you tapping your foot at the bus stop while you wait for your ride to work.
“Klum” takes you out of your doldrums by lifting you into orbit with precision drumming and spaced-out vocals. “Ein Li Makom” has gothic touches, but not so many that they overpower the rock hooks (of which there are plenty). “Imperia Achrona” floats so well that it’s almost like a Slowdive track. The guitar comes at you from several angles, but it stays peaceful the entire time. It also has a great switch in the middle that almost makes it two songs in one. “At Chavera Sheli” combines Joy Division and Modern English into a dream-rock gem. The organ at the end of it drifts into the beginning of “Hashiamum Shokea,” which is a great slice of shoegaze and a powerful end to the record.
It’s not boring at all. Vaadat Charigim’s Sinking as a Stone is a journey down a lazy river with its shoegaze drone grooves, yes, but the boat is crewed by angels, mystics, shamans, and aliens. You’re too fascinated by it to be bored.
Keep your mind open.
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This collection of psychedelic world music from the 1960’s to modern times is nothing short of outstanding. It has fine grooves from around the world ranging from Asia to South America.
Cambodia brings us tinny, freaky grooves on Ros Seresyothea’s “Jam 10 Kai Theit (Wait Ten Months More)” and a Yos Olarang garage-psych cut (“Cyclo”) that was probably heard buzzing from jukeboxes in little bars all over the country in the 1960’s. I’ve been intrigued with 1960’s and 1970’s Indian music lately, so Ananda Shankar’s “Dancing Drums” is a welcome killer track with a beat (and flute solo!) made for an Indian hitman’s newest playlist. Indian singing legends Asha Bhosle and R.D. Burman weren’t immune to the thrill of psychedelic music in the 1960’s. “Piya Tu Ab To Aaja” is sensational, with James Bond-theme guitars, soaring strings, and sexy (yes, sexy) vocals from Bhosle.
Down in South and Latin America, Brazil’s Laranja Freak brings hard psych-rock with “Alergico De Flores.” Anarkia Tropikal’s “El Silbido Del Tunche” is like a lost Goat track if Goat was formed in Columbia. The guitar on it sizzles alongside percolator beats. Juaneco Y Su Combo from Columbia bring more cumbia-psych on “Perdido En El Espacio.” Wal Sant’Ana’s “Que Vide E Essa” is more delightful psych-samba that will get you moving, and M.A.K.U. Soundsystem’s “Canto Negro” is solid modern psych-cumbia with a heavy dose of trippy synths. It reminds me of old Morcheeba tracks. Iuri Andrade’s “Folia No Vento” is psych-samba and Bacalao Men’s “Japones” is psych-salsa. Ray Perez y Su Orquesta’s “Recordando Los Soneros” has these great muted horns, backward tracks, and other oddities underneath fun vocals. Traffic Sound’s “La Camita” has loud, fuzzy guitar any psych band from anywhere in the world would love on their record. Mix it with groovy Latin beats and you have a winner.
Africa isn’t left off this compilation either. Celestine Ukwu brings beautiful guitar work on “Obialu Be Onye Abiagbunia Okwukwe.” Mlimani Park Orchestra’s “Taxi Driver” is good, perky Afro-psych. Kalyanji– Anandji’s “Cabaret Dance Music” is almost a freaky psychedelic nightmare with screams, action movie percussion and horns, and orgasmic moans. Victor Uwaifo’s “Guitar Boy” is an Afro-psych classic from 1966 with crisp yet slightly fuzzy guitars.
This is a good primer for psychedelic sounds, both new and classic, crafted outside the U.S. and the U.K. Snag it if you can find it and start exploring.
Part-funk, part-Afrobeat, part-1970’s Sinbad movie, Golden Dawn Arkestra have descended from somewhere beyond Alpha Centauri and delivered their new record – Stargazer.
The title track opens the record. It’s at first a gentle lift-off from the gravity of your job, your latest screwed-up relationship, and even this world. You’re off-planet and in orbit once their drummer, one of the best funk drummers I’ve heard in a long while, and the horn section kick in and encourage you to look beyond this earthly plane (and how about that saxophone solo?).
The groove of “Sama Chaka” immediately seeps into you and will not leave until you dance it out of your system. The xylophone and horns combine for a funky combination that will improve the mood of anyone listening.
“We walk on nothin’ but clouds,” the band sings on “Clouds” (taking us into psych-pop territory). Imagine the New Pornographers as a funk band and you might get the idea. “Space Waves” implores us to dance to the cosmic beats the band puts down on every track. The baritone sax and synth work on this cut is as smooth as the Silver Surfer’s board.
“Shabuki” belongs on a 1960’s Japanese spy thriller soundtrack. “Disko” belongs on a 1970’s Blaxploitation film soundtrack. Just listen to that wicked bass line, crisp guitar, and groovy horns if you don’t believe me. “Osaka” does have a bit of an Asian flair (mostly in the guitar riffs), but the rest of it is straight-up big, bold phat funk.
The closer, “All Is Light,” is a mesmerizing trip into another reality. It blends eastern Indian sounds with rock drumming and guitar reminiscent of 1980’s Zappa material.
Stargazer is the funkiest album I’ve heard in years. Take the journey with Golden Dawn Arkestra. The destination doesn’t matter. You’ll be different by the time this thirty-eight-minute journey ends, anyway.
Keep your mind open.
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Dayluta Means Kindness is a five-piece prog / psych rock outfit from El Paso, Texas. They play big instrumental jams that evoke images of alien worlds and cosmic exploration. The title of their four-song debut, The Ground Is Lava, suggests childhood playground memories, space exploration. and shifting landscapes.
The title track opens the record with soaring guitars that border on drone rock. “Everywhere You Look There’s a Mountain” has a title like a Zen koan, drums like a tribal ceremony, and guitar work like a slow avalanche. This would be perfect for hiking at sunrise in the American southwest. I must remember to put in on such a playlist for my next trip out there.
“Young Savagery & General Debauchery” is a great name for a juvenile delinquency movie from the late 1950’s, but the song is a long, floating piece of beautiful guitar work and stadium rock drumming. This track will change your mood, slow your thinking, and inspire you. To do what? That’s up to you, but I suggest rock climbing, meditation, surfing, or creating any kind of art.
The closer, “The Sun’s True Brightness in Comparison with Other Stars,” is as epic as its title. It builds from tones that remind you of a sunrise to a soundtrack for navigating an asteroid field. It belongs on your “morning run” playlist, and the whole album belongs in your collection.
Avant garde rock legend Gary Wilsonhas given us a cool gift. He’s released a 7″ single of two tracks from his first band, Lord Fuzz, from 1967. These psych-rock tracks are wild, weird, and wonderful. You owe it to yourself to pick up the limited edition vinyl record (only 300 copies) or download the digital files if you’re a fan of Gary Wilson (and if you’re not, what’s wrong with you?).
I discovered Phoenix, Arizona’s psych outfit Strange Lot (Dominic Mena – guitars and vocals, Tim Lormor – drums, David Dennis – bass ) when I attended the 2016 MR Fest in San Marcos, Texas. Their set was one of best I saw there.
Their first full-length album, Another Mind, is solid. They open big with “Into the Night.” The guitars bounce off each other like they’re in a mosh pit, and the vocals are layered in reverb to the point where they’re almost indecipherable. “The Horror” dives headfirst into trippy psych. “Wasted Fields” has wild, weird, and fascinating guitar work from Mena. “Supremium” might be an obscure reference to Marvel Comics’ version of kryptonite, but I think it’s probably about allowing your mind to open to a cosmic experience. Lormor’s drums almost sound drunk, Dennis seems to be playing a freestyle jazz tune on his bass, and Mena’s guitars float around like he’s in zero gravity. Trust me, it all works.
“Stone” bridges the gap between psych and shoegaze, while “Right with your Pain” is a raucous rocker. “Call My Name” is so full of fuzz that Ty Segall probably wishes he’d recorded it. After a brief instrumental break (“Sandwich”), “Erthquake” roars in like its namesake. Lormor and Dennis try to shake you to the ground and Mena tries to lift you from the chasm with excellent, soaring guitar work. The title track is the last one. It’s like something you’d find on an obscure early 1980’s goth rock compilation with its mournful vocals and lyrics, down-tuned guitars, and strangely peppy keyboards.
I like these guys. They’re doing odd stuff, loud stuff, psych stuff, and shoegaze stuff and it all works for them. It is a strange lot they’ve mixed, but a good one.
Keep your mind open.
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I’ve been meaning to pick up A Place to Bury Strangers’ 2009 album, Exploding Head, for years. I have no excuse other than it was never for sale on CD whenever I’d see them live. I love the band, so shame on me for taking seven years to pick up this fine record.
The opener, “It Is Nothing,” displays Oliver Ackermann’s (vocals and guitar) love of My Bloody Valentine. His guitar sounds like he’s playing it upside-down and backwards while his vocals seem to be coming from the bottom of an empty pool. “In Your Heart” is one of my favorite APTBS tracks. It has the stabbing guitar chords, chugging synth beats, lyrics about screwed-up relationships (“Don’t say you’ll be with me again. There’s nothing there, it’s dead.”), and David J-like bass I love from their songs, and it slays live.
Tribal drumming grounds “Lost Feeling” as Ackermann pleads with his girl to come back to him, but he knows he’s not even on her radar. It’s like a great lost Bauhaus track with even more blaring guitars. “Deadbeat” is nothing but, as it has some of the hardest, slickest beats and bass on the record. It’s an instant mosh pit creator, so be careful where you play it.
“Keep Slipping Away” is like early Cure but with more reverb, heavier amps, and not as much moping. “Ego Death” is heavy goth rock with a chorus that might knock you out of your boots. “Smile When You Smile” is equally heavy and a bit creepier. “Everything Always Goes Wrong” could be the theme for every Three’s Company episode by the title, but the sound of it is better for a modern Euro-horror film.
You’d think the title track would be loud enough to make your head explode, but APTBS wisely flips it around to make it a catchy industrial track with almost a dance club bass line and vocals free of reverb. The closer is one of their hardest and loudest live tracks – “I Lived My Life to Stand in the Shadow of Your Heart.” As fast as it is on the record, it’s twice the speed live.
Don’t be like me and wait seven years to add this to your collection. It’s essential noise-psych.
The band (Ambrose Kenny Smith – harmonica, vocals, synths, Cook Craig – guitars and bass, Eric Moore – drums, percussion, theremin, Joey Walker – guitar and vocals, Lucas Skinner – bass, Michael Cavanaugh – drums, Stu Mackenzie – guitar, vocals, flute) is wildly prolific and able to switch musical styles faster than a chameleon changes colors. Their last album, Paper Mache Dream Balloon, is a lovely bit of psychedelic hippy pop music with some rock and blues touches.
Nonagon Infinity, however, is the most blistering rock record I’ve heard in a long while. “Robot Stop” explodes from the opening seconds like a land mine hit by a tank. Each track flows seamlessly into the next. This happens so well that the album loops on itself by the end. I’ve read interviews with the band in which they had planned this all along. The album can be listened to on loop without any noticeable bumps in the road. In fact, you could start Nonagon Infinity on any of the nine tracks and it would still loop itself without stumbling. It’s an incredible piece of audio engineering.
“Big Fig Wasp” emerges from “Robot Stop” like a train emerging from a tunnel. Everything is layered in wall-flattening guitars, double drumming, and slightly distorted vocals before launching into “Gamma Knife” like a rocket leaving Cape Canaveral. The harmonica on “Gamma Knife” is the booster on that rocket, taking the song out of orbit. “People Vultures” follows it, with lyrics about rampant consumerism and a heavy Jethro Tull feel.
“Mr. Beat” has a great trippy groove before “Evil Death Roll” comes in with heavy reverb on the guitars and a cool mix of stoner rock and psychedelia. “Invisible Face” sounds like they recorded it while diving 80mph down a dark desert road. “Wah Wah” refers to both the guitar effects and the near mystical chant lyrics as it builds to mind-blowing intensity. It melts your brain into the closer (or is it the opener?) – “Road Train,” which might crush any sanity you have left by this point.
As stunning as Nonagon Infinity is, I’m sure it is even better live, so don’t miss them on their current tour. You won’t regret it, or buying this record.
Keep your mind open.
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