Although he never found commercial success within his tragically short life, singer/songwriter Tim Buckley has managed to become admired and deeply influential in the 40 years since his death for his innovative sound which possessed […]
Category: Psych Rock
Live Footage: Pure Phase Ensemble 4 with RIDE’s Mark Gardener Performing A Mind-Bending “Notatki” at Space Fest 2014
This weekend Gdansk, Poland hosted the fifth annual Space Fest, an annual festival of shoegaze, space-rock and alternative music featuring concerts, workshops for Polish and internationally-based musicians, meet and greets with legendary and renowned artists, a competition […]
Comprised of Kyle Miller (vocals and lead guitar), Jake Supple (vocals, bass and drums), and Ty Baron (guitar and keys) Denver, CODenver, CO-based psych rock trio Plum have specialized in the beloved psych rock sound of the late 1960s and early 1970s –in other words power chord heavy songs with blistering, mind-melting solos, thundering drumming and soulful vocals and harmonies. But interestingly enough, it’s a sound that also nods towards the grunge rock sounds of Pearl Jam (think of “Evenflow“), Soundgarden and others without being being carbon copy mimicry; in fact, the members of Plum push a familiar sound to a subtly modern context without scrubbing away what listeners love about the sound — power chords and anthemic hooks as you’ll hear on their latest single “Light Years, Dark Years.”
Frequently compared to RIDE, Smashing Pumpkins, Dinosaur, Jr. and Deerhunter, the critically praised Chicago, IL-based quartet Pink Frost originally formed under the name Apteka — and as Apteka, the quartet recorded their debut effort Gargoyle Days on analog tape before releasing the album back in 2011 to critical praise; the album landed on Time Out Chicago‘s Best of 2011 List, as well as several others. After changing their name to Pink Frost, the quartet’s 2014 sophomore effort, Sundowning was released to critical praise from nationally renowned media outlets including Pitchfork, SPIN Magazine, Noisey, Magnet Magazine, and Chicago Reader. And adding to a growing national profile, material from Sundowning appeared in The Lookalike and TV series such as The Vampire Diaries and CSI: Miami, among others.
The Chicago-based quartet will be releasing a painstakingly remixed and remastered update of the original analog masters, which reportedly will not only pack much more punch, but will also be representative of the band’s live sound. Of course, with new artwork reflecting the band’s change of name, the band intends for the re-release of their debut to be a metaphorical and literal rebirth. (Interestingly, the members of Pink Frost have been incredibly busy of late as they’ve also been busily recording the follow-up to Sundowning and Traitors EP with Gregoire Yeche at Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio Studios.)
The re-released album’s second and latest single “Where Days Go” is an power-chord based song with enormous, anthemic hooks that sounds as though it were inspired by 90s alt rock and shoegaze. I’m reminded quite a bit of The Posies‘ “Ontario,” Foo Fighters “This Is A Call” and The Black Angels‘ “Telephone” as “Where Days Go” possesses a similar forcefulness and mosh-pit ready feel while being incredibly radio friendly.
Although members of the Stockholm, Sweden-based psych rock band Caviare Days have split time between Berlin, Germany, Brooklyn and their hometown, the band can trace their origins to when it started as the musical project of siblings and founding members Lina and Maja Westin. The project expanded to a full-fledged band when the Westins recruited Timmy Grim (drums), Boris Grubesic (guitar) and Marcus Arborelius (keys, synthesizer bass) to assist in fleshing out the project’s sound. Thanks in part to a collaboration with The Soundtrack of Our Lives’ Ebbot Lundberg, which was released to critical praise across Europe and a Scandinavian tour opening for Lundberg’s band, the Stockholm-based quintet started to receive international attention across both the European Union and here in the States — they’ve appeared on BBC Introducing, toured and recorded in Germany and have received some attention Stateside; in fact, the band has become part of a lengthy list of mainstay artists on JOVM over the past year or so.
The band’s recently released single “More Than One” continues with the songwriting and recording approach of their Like Me EP with material that captures the live sound that they’ve perfected as they’ve toured across Europe — while revealing a band that’s playfully and subtly expanded their sound. Sonically, the new single meshes bluesy and shuffling glam rock guitar chords, anthemic power chord-led hooks and the Westin sisters’ sultry harmonies in a song that sounds as though it’s indebted more to Ziggy Stardust-era David Bowie and to T. Rex than it does to psych rock as the song shuffles and swaggers to its conclusion.
Just from this song, there’s a sense that the Stockholm-based quintet are ready to take over the world — and I fully expect that we’ll be hearing more about them Stateside in the next few months.
New Video: The Auras’ Brit Pop Channelling, New Single
Certainly, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past month, you may recall that I’ve written about the Toronto,ON-based psych rock sextet The Auras. Comprised of long-time friends longtime friends, Aaron McCoy (drums), Hank Van Harten (bass, […]
New Video: The Trippy, Technicolor Video for All Them Witches’ “Dirt Preachers”
With the release of their 2012 debut effort, Our Mother Electricity and 2014’s sophomore effort Lightning At The Door, the Nashville, TN-based quartet All Them Witches, comprised of Charles Michael Parks, Jr. (vocals, bass), Ben […]
New Video: Coke Weed’s Early 1980s-Influenced Video for “I Could Be So Real”
If you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past month-month-and-a-half or so, you may come across a couple of posts written about the Bar Harbor, ME-based psych rock quintet Coke Weed. Comprised of founding members Milan McAlevey (songwriting, guitar) […]
New Video: The Tense and Creepy, New Video for Elephant Stone’s Collaboration with The Black Angels’ Alex Maas
Elephant Stone, a Montreal, QC-based psych rock trio comprised of Rishi Dihr (lead vocals, sitar, bass), Jean-Gabriel Lambert (drums, backing vocals), and Miles Dupire (drums, backing vocals) have become something of a mainstay on this site, as […]
New Video: Coke Weed’s 80s Post-Punk Leaning, New Single “Dead Man Walking”
You may recall that last month, I wrote about the Bar Harbor, ME-based psych rock quintet Coke Weed. Currently comprised of founding members Milan McAlevey (songwriting, guitar) and Nina Donghia (vocals), along with Caleb Davis (guitar), […]
New Video: Life on the Road with Brazil’s Boogarins
If you’ve been frequenting this site for the past few weeks or so, you may remember that I’ve written about the internationally acclaimed Brazilian indie psych rock quartet, Boogarins. The Brazilian quartet can trace their origins to […]
Comprised of Rishi Dihr (lead vocals, sitar, bass), Jean-Gabriel Lambert (drums, backing vocals), and Miles Dupire (drums, backing vocals), the Montreal, QC-based trio Elephant Stone have become something of a mainstay on JOVM, as I’ve written about them quite a bit over the past couple of years.
Now, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the site or with the band, some back story is necessary: the band led by Dihr, a renowned sitar player, who’s formerly a member of The High Dials and has collaborated with members of the renowned, Austin, TX-based psych rock band The Black Angels, has developed a reputation for a psych rock sound that frequently employs elements of traditional Eastern instrumentation with Western songwriting in a way that’s reminiscent of the 60s psychedelic sound pioneered by The Beatles, The Kinks and others. With the release of Canadian trio’s third full-length effort, The Three Poisons last year, the band’s sound went through a major change in sonic direction in which the sitar wasn’t as much of a primary focus; in fact, sitar was retained here and there to add sonic coloring — and to retain the overall psychedelic feel.
The band’s latest single “The Devil’s Shelter” is a collaboration that features The Black Angels’ frontman Alex Maas. And as Dihr explained in press notes, “I knew all along that the dark mood of this song needed something even darker. Lo and behold, a Black Angel came to my rescue. Alex Maas and I have been friends for well over 10 years and I try to collaborate with him as much as possible. I sent him a bunch of my demos for our new album to get his feedback. Of all the songs, I felt this one was missing something. He offered to re-sing this whole song and I could do with it what I wanted. On the first playback of his vocals, I knew the song had what it needed. His voice can summon Tibetan monks, Nico and the devil all at once. He definitely brought the darkness to my light.”
Interestingly, the latest Elephant Stone single is a marked change in sonic direction as it begins with a tense, undulating synths, shimmering sitar chords, propulsive drumming paired with Dihr’s vocals on the song’s verses and Maas’ vocals on the chorus and hook to create a song that feels and sounds ominous and murky — and as though it channels The Black Angels “Don’t Play With Guns.”
The band will be embarking on a West Coast tour throughout November. Check out the tour dates and info below.
ELEPHANT STONE WEST COAST TOUR
11/06 – Montréal QC – Turbo Haüs (Info)
11/12 – San Diego CA – Whistle Stop (Info)
11/13 – Los Angeles CA – Hotel Cafe (Info)
11/14 – Santa Ana CA – Constellation Room (Info)
11/18 – Seattle WA – LoFi (Info)
11/19 – Vancouver BC – The Cobalt (Info)
11/20 – Portland OR – Bunk Bar (Info)
11/21 – Oakland CA – The New Parish for Echo Fest (Info)
11/12 – San Diego CA – Whistle Stop (Info)
11/13 – Los Angeles CA – Hotel Cafe (Info)
11/14 – Santa Ana CA – Constellation Room (Info)
11/18 – Seattle WA – LoFi (Info)
11/19 – Vancouver BC – The Cobalt (Info)
11/20 – Portland OR – Bunk Bar (Info)
11/21 – Oakland CA – The New Parish for Echo Fest (Info)
Although the Providence, RI-based trio Atlantic Thrills were officially formed in 2009, the origins of the band comprised of Eric Aguilar (vocals, bass), Daniel Tanner (vocals, guitar), and Josh Towers (drums) can be traced back even earlier — to the early 00’s when the band’s founding members Aguilar and Tanner met at a loft party. At the time, Aguilar was an emcee and producer studying at the Rhode Island School of Design and Tanner was a DJ. Along with another emcee, the duo of Tanner and Aguilar formed a hip-hop act Exile and Lokey and released an album; unfortunately, something felt off and the project disbanded.
While Aguilar and Tanner were crate digging and pouring over Nuggets Vol 1. and Pebbles Vol 1., freakbeat and fuzz compilations for new sounds and unused breaks, they realized that they needed to make the music they wanted to hear — scuzzy, garage-based psych rock. Towers was then recruited to flesh out the band’s sound on drums, and the newly formed trio recorded a debut effort, which puts them on a growing list of acts that have specialized in an old-school garage psych sound including Raccoon Fighter, who I’ve written about on JOVM in the past.
“Vices” the first single and album title track off the band’s forthcoming sophomore effort, Vices slated for a December 4 release through Almost Ready Records consists of chiming guitars played through copious layers of reverb, propulsive drumming and ethereal harmonies to craft a sound that’s lo-fi scuzzy and trippy — and in many ways the overall sound channels the psych rock sounds of the early 60s.
New Video: The Hallucinogenic Video for Heaters’ New Single “Kamikaze”
Certainly, if you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the better part of this past year, you may have come across a post or two on the Grand Rapids, MI-based psych rock trio HEATERS. Comprised of Andrew Tamlyn, Nolan Krebs and Joshua Korf, […]
New Video: The Psychedelic and Colorful, New Video for The Auras’ “Sure Shot”
Comprised of long-time friends longtime friends, Aaron McCoy (drums), Hank Van Harten (bass, vocals), David Zboch Alves (keyboards, vocals), Peter Dasilva (guitar, vocals), Robb Schaede (guitar and vocals) and Dallas Wheeler (guitar, vocals), the Toronto,ON-based sextet […]