Swedish Psychedelic rock band, Melody Fields released two albums last year. The first of the two, 1901, is a great blend of classic ’60s psychedelic, shoegaze, and experimental landscapes. Starting off the album is the powerful opening track “Going Back”. With a rolling “Tomorrow Never knows” drum line, solid baseline, and eastern hook to catch your attention. This psych raga track also has lots of the albums signature three part male/female vocal blends which sounds divine. The second track and first single, “Jesus” has a big horn/saxophone riff creating a gospel/rock vibe. One of the best tracks on the album, it creates a “Big Heaven” sound, with the looping riff…
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Swirlpool | Distant Echoes
After forming in 2017, and releasing an EP and two singles, this is the German shoegaze band’s debut LP. Mixed by Ride’s Mark Gardner, the album has a ’90s “classic” shoegaze feel to it, with all the trademarks of hushed vocals, whammy bar tone bending, reverb and distortion, but with the band’s new 21st century take as well as their other songwriting influences. All the tracks do have that lush tapestry of production on the whole album. The band has some cool videos to match their sound as well. The opening song, and album name, “Distant Echoes” has a deep, slow-moving distortion wave feel to it, setting the tone for…
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Kilowatt Bar 3.9.24 – My Dallas Teens, Down Dirty Shake, The Love Dimension
Another Saturday night in San Francisco, and another great psych show. DJ Mr. Robinson spun all vinyl throughout the night, starting out with some chill Ravi Shankar at door time, and building throughout the night through an eclectic mix of classic psych and modern rock music. The projections were provided by White Light Prism, a mix of post-modern collage art and optical art moires throughout all the sets. Each band got their own visual pallet, making each song unique and different looking. Often there were two smaller split screens behind the bands, juxtaposing imagery with flashing strobes of nature visuals, classic 60s psych imagery, surf imagery, and film-grain urban landscapes…
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IVY ROOM 9.23 | Star Decay, The Love Dimension, Melting Elephants
It was a good turnout for a Wednesday night in Berkeley. It’s good for San Francisco and East Bay bands to play shows on both sides of the Bay. Different people from parts of the city make it out who would not otherwise. It’s hard to always be going to San Francisco or Oakland for shows, as band members often live in many different parts of the Bay Area. People like to go out locally on a weeknight for shows, and it showed at this event. The Ivy Room is a great venue in North Berkeley to do shows for those who live in that neck of the woods. It…
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Tiger! Shit! Tiger! Tiger! Dark Shoegaze Alt-Rock Album Bloom
Atmospheric post rock with restraint and targeted volume dynamics. On Bloom, TSTT sustains tension that releases and grows throughout each track. The release of tension is in the form of beautiful chords supported by thick low notes and atmospheric guitar chords that hover in the air as the next chord presents itself.
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Knockout 10.27.23 – Psyched! Fest 2023. Reckling, Annabelle Chairlegs, Daydream Twins, The Grizzled Mighty and WIFE
I attended Psyched! Fest 2023 show at the Knockout on October 27th, one of multiple shows sponsored by Psyched! Radio SF. This was the sixth show in their series of shows in San Francisco. This was the smallest of all the shows, showcasing bands in a smaller and more intimate venue, where they could interact with the crowd in all their Halloween costumes. There was a DJ set by 13 Angels, playing some good standards like The Smiths and others, to set the mood of the show in between sets, “spinning melodic enchantments that will transport you to otherworldly dimensions,” but it’s also hard to hear the DJ at the…
