Coming to you straight from Saarbrücken, Germany is Pretty Lightning’s newest album – Night Wobble. This new LP is the German trio’s second instrumentals-only album, but it is their sixth full-length project to date. I was offered to take a listen to this project before its official release and invited to take a sonic journey through an “oozy, woozy cowboy groove”, as described by the band. Night Wobble is a fun psychedelic fusion album – the band says the album is “dusty spaghetti-western psychedelia, Tuareg-derived desert-blues, library music and ’70s progressive”. Just based on the description alone, I was super stoked to get my headphones on and sit with the…
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Elephant Stone: Back Into The Garage – Demos and Unreleased Tracks
The Canadian psychedelic band Elephant Stone has released a follow-up of sorts to their 2024 album Back Into The Dream – an album of the remains of “what could have been”. Back Into The Garage is comprised of the home demos that frontman Rishi Dhir created during the writing process for Back Into The Dream during Christmas 2021. Dhir calls the album a “collection of charmingly imperfect songs” and a “sneak peek into [his] creative process”. This 10-track album is a delicious display of Dhir’s composition and creative abilities. Back Into the Garage is my first introduction to Rishi Dhir and Elephant Stone. Though listening to an album of demos…
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Singles Round Up: The Outset, Shadow Show, Girl Tones, The Snares
The Outset- “But I Learned”/”Baker’s Husband” The newest offering from So-Cal’s The Outset features 2 tracks sounding straight out of the mid 60s. “But I Learned” is more straightforward rock n roll- think Yardbirds, Stones, early Who. The production style is perfect for this sound as well. “Baker’s Husband” leans more psych, a more 67/68-ish vibe. I love the jangle guitar, the rawness of the sound, and the more catchy, powerpop type psych going on here. A vintage sound done really well and with loads of style. https://theoutset.bandcamp.com/album/but-i-learned-bakers-husband Shadow Show: “Baba Yaga” w/ “Spy Balloon” Detroit trio Shadow Show continue to make some of the most interesting and complex psych…
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COOL GHOULS | At George’s Zoo
Released in March 2021, this album includes lots of the band’s songs written during the pandemic era. Formed in 2011, this is the bands fourth album as they continue to hone in on their sound. They are not afraid to be melodic in any way and embrace their pop sensibilities. Songs about beaches and surfboards, with a heavy Brian Wilson influence, sit alongside more garage-type songs and imaginative guitar solos. “It’s Over” starts off the album with bells and vocal harmonies, with a huge sound to follow, including horns and regal fanfare on the chorus section. “To You I’m Bound” is a fun and catchy love song with a memorable…
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Oakland’s Star Decay Lose Your Head
Buckle up and take trip with Star Decay's surfy psych rock with blown out fuzz, reverb and energized vocals.
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Supplemental Pill | No Easy Way Out
Sometimes it’s vexing when a new band’s press kit tells you what other bands they sound like. As a reviewer, this means you’re not able to listen to the music without prejudice. You’re going to compare the newer artist to the bands that their press agent just told you they sound like. In this case, we’re informed from the outset that we’ll like Oregon’s Supplemental Pills if we like Spacemen 3, The Velvet Underground, and The Brian Jonestown Massacre. I am delighted to report that Supplemental Pills does in fact sound like those bands, but takes those influences and melds them together into something new. They are less derivative than…
