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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Thomas Greenwood and the Talismans | Ates
Hailing from Bergamo, Italy, Thomas Greenwood and the Talismans is a project born from an idea by Thomas Mascheroni (also guitar/voice of stoner trio Humulus), after a long series of jams inside a former barn above the hills of Lake Iseo. Thomas Greenwood and the Talismans play a psychedelic rock heavily contaminated by 70s influences, condensed into a cauldron of neo-psychedelia and West-Coast-style surfing sounds, transmitting an overwhelming energy live. After releasing two singles (‘Valley of the Sun’ and ‘Violet Hills’), the Talismans released their first album – the entirely self-produced entitled Rituals (2023). In March of this year, the band released Ates, their second full-length record. Ates is a…
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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…
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W.I.T.C.H. “Zango”
This 2023 release is the first new music from the band in over 40 years. It is also the first album since 1976 to feature front man and co-founder Emmanuel “Jagari” Chanda. Joined by a younger band of European musicians who breathe new life into the music, the album retains classic elements of the band’s signature sound, even with an analog recording feel. The title “Zango” refers to a central meeting place in Zambian villages where the community can gather, and exchange ideas and learn from each other. W.I.T.C.H. recently played a free outdoor show at the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater in San Francisco. This “Zango” community feeling was present at…
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Melody Fields 1901/1991
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…
