Psych
See: Empath return with psychedelic trip ‘Born 100 Times’
Though Philadelphia’s Empath have been championed in The Guardian for the wantonly freewheeling verve of their gigs, and celebrated across numerous other publications, it remains that the part-psych, part-punk quartet have nowhere near the level of praise they deserve. ‘Born 100 Times’ – produced by Jake Portrait of Unknown Mortal Orchestra – is the band’s …
Premiere: see the visual delights of Smote’s ‘Poleyn’
As their debut full-length on Rocket Recordings awaits release, Smote have shared the video for ‘Poleyn’, created by Rocket’s own John O’ Caroll. The track shares the album with ‘Drommon Pt.1’ and ‘Drommon Pt.2’, released as a limited tape/digital release earlier this year, as well as the previously released lead single ‘Hauberk’. Thematically focused with …
Album Review: Smote – Drommon
Newcastle has been a veritable hub for a wide spectrum of psych and noise, from the raw trio of Blóm to the relentless clamour of Pigs x7; the same city’s Smote offers a different, but similarly singular, vision of psych. Drommon comprises the previously released titular, two-parter, bookending new material ‘Hauberk’ and ‘Poleyn’; a more …
Say Psych: Track Review: Sei Still – Extrarradio
Ahead of their first UK tour-dates kicking off this month, Mexican five-piece Sei Still have announced their second album El Refugio and share the first single and video, ‘Extrarradio’. Due out 26 November on Fuzz Club Records, the new album – which arrives following their self-titled debut LP released in April 2020 and already on its …
Say Psych: Album Review: 10 000 Russos – Superinertia
Portuguese experimental trio 10 000 Russos released their fifth album Superinertia last week via Fuzz Club Records. Following on from 2019’s Kompromat and tour-dates around the UK, Europe and Mexico in support, the Porto-based band describe ‘Superinertia’ as a record addressing the “state of inertia that humans live in the West nowadays. It isn’t a …
Say Psych: Track Review: KICK – Sirens Never Sleep
‘Sirens Never Sleep’ is the new single by Italian duo KICK, out now via Anomic Records (Germany), Dischi Sotterranei (Italy) and Sour Grapes (United Kingdom), taken from the forthcoming album Light Figures due out in November. Very active live, both in Italy and abroad, KICK are Chiara Amalia Bernardini (vocals, bass) and Nicola Mora (guitars, electric piano, synths, samplers). Their sound combines rough elements alongside more dreamy …
Say Psych: Track Review: JuJu – Not This Time
JuJu, the brainchild of Gioele Valenti, are back with a new album La Que Sabe, scheduled for release on 22 October via Weird Beard Records. Sicilian multi-instrumentalist and producer Valenti is a key figure of the European underground music scene. He is one half of acclaimed Occult Psych project Llay Lamas (Rocket Recordings). He is the man behind Herself, a …
Say Psych: Album Review: The Third Sound – First Light
Berlin based The Third Sound have recently released their fifth album First Light, via Fuzz Club Records. Dealing in a hypnotic blend of neo-psychedelia, post-punk and new wave, The Third Sound are led by the Icelandic musician Hákon Aðalsteinsson, who is the guitarist in Brian Jonestown Massacre and formerly played in the cult rock’n’roll outfit …
EP Review: Lazarus Kane – ‘Psychobabble’
Just as one rainy British season follows another, the increasing excellence of another Speedy Wunderground alum is surely similarly guaranteed; Lazarus Kane perhaps no finer example. Their funk, Americanism-heavy swagger brought them the cult following they deserved. However, the band have just as abruptly dropped the character and thrust their complex yet incessantly repeatable song-writing …
Track: Perth’s hyperactive Methyl Ethel unleashes the funky dance missile ‘Matters’: a paean to anxiety and uncertainty.
There is an unsettling restless edge to the new single ‘Matters’ from Perth’s Methyl Ethel that is wrapped in the most danceable and funky faux fur cloak. With soaring, gliding vocals that evoke The Jackson 5 in the chorus and a hyperactive rhythm section and blistering synth that bubbles and squeaks, this is something very …