This week we’ve got triple the treat and none of the tricks for you with 3 new releases all out of the Pacific Northwest. We’re starting things off with Portland’s The Low Twelve, whose sophomore release 12:02 is out now. The Low Twelve takes its name from an old Masonic term meaning “Twelve Midnight” – an hour many considered to be full of dark omens. The music on their sophomore album, the ambitious 12:02, does indeed evoke an atmosphere of midnight mystery befitting the name, but there is plenty of wild fun to be had on this album as well. Moody opener “Turn out the Lights” invites you in with…

This week we’re taking a psychedelic safari with MOOON! The Dutch psyche-heads arrive at Bickerton Records with their sophomore lp, a brilliant concept album on leaving city life behind and getting into the wilderness, a dreamlike trip to the country under the bright light of the mooon along folk-psyche pastoral chants and lysergic pop explosions. First of all, dig that album art! What a beautiful mix of real and psychedelic imagery- this one will look great sitting next to your turntable. And if the art isn’t enough of an incentive to buy a physical copy, the vinyl is also available in 3 different colors (black, white, or olive green) so…

Out now on Exag Records, Leopard Skull’s Welcome Home is a surprising slab of psychedelia that may just well be one of the best of the year. Expertly produced, beautifully conceptualized, and cleverly written, Welcome Home is one you need to listen to right now. Leopard Skull is the solo project of multi-instrumentalist Harm Pauwels (Ghent, BE). With influences ranging from the late Beatles to early Brian Eno and Foxygen, Leopard Skull brings an eclectic psych sound that is both captivating and estranging. With only three songs released in 2014, he was invited to play his debut show at Incubate Showcase Festival (NL). Ever since, Leopard Skull has been continuously…

Another new release from Hypnotic Bridge, this time from our longtime friends The Reverberations. “Milder Higher” b/w “Sunshine”. The A side, “Milder Higher” was inspired by a fictional psychedelic experience (with all the exciting highs and mellow lows), and marks a new, more complex direction in The Reverberations’ sound. The time signature changes! The rotary speaker! It’s all groovy psychedelic fun with the expert precision that we’ve come to expect from The Reverberations. The B Side, “Sunshine” is a bit of a depart from the garage psych and ventures more into powerpop land, which is a delight. Sunny and bright and fun, it almost sounds like a tune that could’ve…

Open Mind Records proudly presents the second album I’d Much Rather Be with the Noise from the mighty poptastic noise machine and rock’n’roller Råttanson. The self-produced, low-budget, high-ambition album contains 14 sizzling original cuts. There’s a shalalala here, a hand clap there, Diddley and Wilko rhythms, snotty nasal vocals, pop á la Undertones and Spector, garage rock reminiscent of Lyres and suddenly a cowpunk banjo. Sure, there are vibes of 60s and Swedish 80s-garage but this funtastic noise expedition is way more diversified and thrilling than that. Råttanson is a Swedish garage rock/power pop/rock’n’roll DIY solo project. For I’d Much Rather Be with the Noise he has brought in a…