Fresh off the release of their new album, Freaks of Nuture, Holy Wave will be performing their groovy stoner-psych rock at Levitation Austinon April 29th. I loved their last record, Relax, so I look forward to hearing the new material (especially since I missed them the last time they played Levitation Austin a couple years ago). My wife also likes what she’s heard from these guys. I think you would, too.
Keep your mind open.
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Christian Bland and the Revelatorsis one of multiple side projects from the Black Angels‘ lead guitarist. They love early Pink Floyd records, and that’s all right with me. I saw them at Levitation Austina couple years ago and they put on a good afternoon set. I’ve met Mr. Bland at three different Black Angels shows (Detroit, Chicago, Indianapolis), and he was a cool cat and happy to sign my gig poster each time.
Keep your mind open.
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French psych-rockers Wall of Deathare returning to Levitation Austin. I’ve seen them twice: Once at Levitation Austin 2013 (when it was still known as Austin Psych Fest) and then later that same year when they opened for the Black Angels in Indianapolis. They always put on a good show of loud psych, so I’m interested in hearing their new material.
Keep your mind open.
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Les Claypool of Primus and Sean Lennon of The Ghost of a Sabre Tooth Tiger have teamed up to create a new psychedelic-prog rock project called The Claypool Lennon Delirium.
TGOASTT opened for Primus on their last tour, and Claypool and Lennon would often jam on tour before, during, and after shows. Claypool had hoped to put together another Oysterhead album after Primus’ last tour, but “the stars wouldn’t align” (according to the CLD’s website) and Lennon told him he didn’t have any immediate plans.
The initial tracks of the CLD’s album, Monolith of Phobos, are a trippy mix of Primus, TGOASTT, Beatles, Zappa, Beefheart, Pet Sounds Beach Boys, and acid jazz. This should be an excellent record (due out in June), and their summer tour should be a must-see.
Keep your mind open.
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It is fitting, crucial in fact, that the name of the newest Night Beats record isn’t Who Sold My Generation? It’s Who Sold My Generation. No question mark. Night Beats (Robert Levon Breen – bass and backing vocals, Danny Lee Blackwell – guitar, vocals, piano, percussion, bass, James Traeger – drums) aren’t asking who sold their generation to career politicians, multinational banks, and corporations. They already know. It was sold by “spitting news anchors,” people selling toxic junk as food and drink, those in power who let that power corrupt them, and, mostly, damningly, their generation for allowing it to happen.
“Celebration #1” is a spoken word manifesto over a freak-out beat, blues bass walk, and dark alley guitar. “When they come into your down, the sons of a sold generation, they’ll grab what isn’t nailed down,” Blackwell sings. Millennials don’t expect things to be handed to them, but they are tired of their future being bartered, sold, and stolen. They are here to take it back.
“Power Child” makes sure you know this is a Night Beats record because it is full of their usual great grooves, reverb, slick drumming, and sound that would be just as fresh if they’d originally opened for MC5. Blackwell’s shredding solo on it closes out the song, leaving you wanting more. Don’t worry, because “Right / Wrong” is just as good. I always like the vocal effects Blackwell uses. It’s hard to discern sometimes where his normal singing voice ends and where distortion and reverb begins, and I think that’s great.
“No Cops” is the first single from the record, and it’s a burner with Been’s bad ass bass, Traeger’s floor-stomping drums, and Blackwell’s guitar that seems to be everywhere at once as he sings about a couple days in the city gone horribly wrong. It’s nice to hear the band branching out into border rock territory with the Spanish lyrics in “Porque Manana,” which could be translated as “Why Tomorrow?” Since there’s no question mark here either, I’m guessing it’s actually “Because Tomorrow.” Act now, because tomorrow isn’t guaranteed to any of us.
Traeger plays drums and a maraca at the same time on “Sunday Mourning,” creating one of the best beats on the record, and Been’s bass line on it holds the song together so well that I imagine he’s a bricklayer when he’s not on tour. Been is the newest member of Night Beats, and his addition has taken the band to another level. His bass work is a hot mix of boogie blues, psychedelia, and funk. Not to be outdone, Blackwell’s guitar on “Sunday Mourning” might make your jaw fall off your head.
“Shangri Lah” and “Bad Love” reveal the band’s love of surf music. “Burn to Breathe” is a slow burn of excellent psychedelia that calls back to the 1960’s better than most modern psychedelic bands can even attempt.
The Monkees’ “Last Train to Clarksville” is about a young man about to be sent to Vietnam. Night Beats rock far harder than the Monkees, of course (although “Clarksville” is a great tune), but I can’t help wondering if “Last Train to Jordan” might be the band’s tribute to members of their generation who served in the Middle East.
“Ain’t gonna wait for tomorrow, ain’t gonna wait for tonight,” Blackwell sings on “Turn the Lights.” Again, complacency is the enemy of us all. The song has a great harmonica solo. So, as a sloppy player of the Mississippi saxophone myself, I love it.
The album closes with “Egypt Berry” – perhaps the most raucous rocker on the record. Pay attention, upcoming bands: If you’re wondering how to end your album, you might want to take a lesson from Night Beats. End with a song that combines Arabian-flavored guitar, Elvis Presley rhythm section beats, Johnny Cash bass, surf cymbals, and a false ending that gives you one last hit before you go.
This is already in my top records of 2016 so far and will most likely be in the top ten for the entire year. Night Beats get better with each record, so buy this and their whole catalogue. Do not hesitate. Hesitation helped sell a generation to one percent of the populace. Night Beats have warned us to not let it happen again.
Keep your mind open.
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Canadian psych-rockers Suuns have started a PledgeMusic campaign and a Bandcamp page for their upcoming album Hold / Still. The first two released tracks, “Translate” and “Paralyzer,” are good cuts that lace their weird psychedelic sound with electro touches. Hold / Still is sure to be a good record if the rest of the tracks are as good as these.
Keep your mind open.
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Prolific Australian psych-rockers King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard have another album ready to roll on April 29, 2016. Nonagon Infinity is now available for pre-order through the band’s Bandcamp page and the first single, “Gamma Knife,” can be heard there. It’s a loud rocker with heavy harmonica and some of their fastest drumming.
Nonagon Infinity will be released the first day of Levitation Austin, at which King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard are playing, so I’m looking forward to hearing this album live.
Keep your mind open.
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Chicago’s The Luck of Eden Hall(Greg Curvey, Mark Lofgren, Carlos Mendoza, Jim Licka) have decided that everyone needs to groove out more in these crazy, hectic times, so why not double your groove dose with a double album – The Acceleration of Time?
The album starts with bell chimes that become something like a warning klaxon until we’re dropped into “Slow” – a solid rocker with prog-rock guitar and vocals that remind me of King Missile if King Missile decided to rock out more. “Blown to Kingdom Come” ups the reverbed vocals a bit and has more killer drum fills than I can count. It also has a damn catchy melody that gets your toes tapping.
“A Procession of Marshmallow Soldiers Across the Clockwork Pudding,” an instrumental, is the best title to a psych-rock song I’ve heard all year. I love bands that include instrumental cuts, and this one has soaring guitar work from Curvey.
The title track appropriately starts with a ticking clock that becomes weird piano you might hear in a haunted saloon. It has heavy George Harrison and Tom Petty influences that work well. The whole song crackles and is a fine showcase for the band.
“Channel 50 Creature Feature” is a favorite, as I grew up a “monster kid” watching such programs. It doesn’t have a lot of creepy organ or Theremin like you might expect. It has the sound and feel of an epic Frank Zappa jazz track. Imagine something you’d hear at a late night chill-out party in Klaus Kinski’s house and you’ll get the idea.
The guitars on “Arthropoda Lepidoptera” soar like the butterflies in its namesake. “The Family Timekeeper” continues the theme of time and the perception of it. The drums tap out a clock-hand beat and the guitars have this weird jangly sound that slips into a nice alt-rock riff between verses. “You Asked About Water on Mars” is appropriately spacey (the synths) and cosmic (the guitars).
“Only Robots Can Search the Deep Ocean Floor” follows it. “We’re empty vessels. In the end, it’s all for naught. Some find love, some find luck, some lose touch,” Curvey sings. If only robots can search things we can’t reach, we can at least search deep into ourselves if we brave the journey.
“Another High Speed Blowout” starts off sounding like a New Pornographers track with its groovy beats and growing synths, until it goes from a rolling boil to a simmer and lulls you into a warm trance. “The Happiness Vending Machine” is great power pop and about the benefits and (mostly) hazards of money. Hard-hitting bass combines with slightly fuzzy guitars and rock drumming. It’s an instant hit.
The twelfth track is appropriately named, “Twelve.” The song takes us from noon to midnight as a couple deals with what appears to be a relationship that is turning into a boring routine. Can they break the monotony and save each other, and will they have the same battle the next day?
“White Caps in the Wind” is over eight minutes of lush dream pop. Flute (or flute-like synths, I’m not sure which) floats along as more clockwork guitar guides you like the wind mentioned in the title. “The Saints Are Quiet Above Us” is something you hear in a dream while sleeping in a desert lodge with the window open and sandalwood-scented air blows over you. The closer, “A Man of Conservative Style,” has crazy Beefheart saxophone, strangely syncopated vocals, and more good guitar work from Curvey, who has convinced me he’s one of the best unheralded guitarists out there right now.
This is one of the best psychedelic rock records I’ve heard all year. It succeeds on all fronts: psych, power pop, dream pop, prog-rock, and alt-rock. The Acceleration of Time is so good that it seems to go by too fast for a double album, which is only fitting for its title. The album alters your perception of time and the world around you while you listen to it.
Keep your mind open.
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I first discovered The Dunes(Stacie Reeves -vocals and percussion, Matt Reiner – guitar, Adam Vanderwerf – bass, Jess Honeychurch – keyboards, Brett Walter – synths, Clair O’Boyle – drums) in 2014 when I was writing for Outlaw Music Magazine. These Australian psych-rockers create music as big as their homeland and trippy as the night skies above the desert there. I don’t know if they’ve ever toured the United States, but getting this fine live recording is a good appetizer for a future full course live meal.
The album opens with “When You Wake Up,” which plunges you into their deep, dark psych-rock at the first note. It’s almost induces a trance with its droning synths, fuzzed-out guitars, echoing vocals, thick bass, and drums that sound like they’re being played in a red rock canyon, so I imagine the band is referring to waking up from illusions and seeing true reality rather than waking from a good night’s sleep.
“Badlands,” the title track to their September 2014 release, is nearly ten minutes of freak-out mind-warp madness. The synths spin around you, the drums would fit in a pow-wow, and the bass buzzes like a drunken hummingbird. We get an extended cut of “A Thousand Crimes” after it, and I like how the synths sound like a sitar and the guitar work has a bit of a surf edge to it.
“End of the Beginning” is strong and bold, with great shoegaze guitars and heavy bass and percussion while the keys, synths, and vocals float along like a weird fog. The use of a tambourine on this track is both excellent and jarring. “Door to the Mind” blends shoegaze and psych-rock so well that I’m not sure where one ends and the other begins. It definitely will open your mind as it blends Doors, Pink Floyd, Jefferson Airplane, My Bloody Valentine, and the Jesus and Mary Chain. It’s an amazing track with some of the finest guitar and rum work on the record.
“Lunar Effect,” all eleven minutes and six seconds of it, ends the album on an uplifting note with vocals that rise like the sun. The band goes out on an ethereal note as they flow back and forth until the final chords.
This is a fine psychedelic rock record and one of the best live albums I’ve heard in a long while. The Dunes need to get to the U.S. soon so more can hear them.
Keep your mind open.
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Legendary German kraut rock band Faust are playing a rare performance at Levitation Chicago on March 12th, closing out the three-day festival. Faust built a devoted fan base in the 1970’s with their mixture of kraut rock and psychedelic rock before breaking up and disappearing until the 1990’s. Only two of the original members remain (Werner “Zappi” Diermeier – percussion, Jean-Herve Peron – bass), but this will still be a special set.
Keep your mind open.
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Fresh off the release of their new album, Freaks of Nuture, Holy Wave will be performing their groovy stoner-psych rock at Levitation Austin on April 29th. I loved their last record, Relax, so I look forward to hearing the new material (especially since I missed them the last time they played Levitation Austin a couple years ago). My wife also likes what she’s heard from these guys. I think you would, too.
