Towards the second half of 2015, the Brazilian indie psych rock quartet Boogarins quickly became a JOVM mainstay, and if you had been frequenting this site over that period dog time, I had written about a couple […]
Category: Psych Rock
While the States and the rest of the Western world was in the height of “Flower Power,” “The Age of Aquarius,” were protesting for civil rights for people of color and women and against the Vietnam War in 1967, Nigeria descended into a bloody civil war. The rock scene that developed during the bloodshed and destruction would eventually help heal and unite the country, propagate a new ideal of the Modern Nigerian, and perhaps most important for us, help propel Fela Kuti to stardom once the conflict ended in 1970.
Wake Up You!, a compilation that Now-Again Records will be releasing as a two volume book with companion CDs and vinyl, featuring research from renowned musicologist Uchenna Ikonne and an incredible array of never-seen photos that will tell the stories of some of Nigeria’s long-forgotten but best rock bands — bands that specialized in a sound that meshed funk, psych rock and rock in a way that was unique and particularly Nigerian, while being remarkably familiar to Western ears. And on Volume 1 single Ify Jerry Krusade’s “Everybody Likes Something Good,” you’ll hear a sound that’s heavily indebted to James Brown, Jefferson Airplane, Booker T and the MGs and several other things as heavily wah-wah pedaled guitar, soaring organ chords, sinuous and throbbing bass lines, layers of percussion are paired with call and response vocals but what also makes this single and the compilation so important is that sonically the material manages to nod towards Fela Kuti’s early releases; so in many ways, this single and the rest of the compilation will likely fill in the gaps for audiophiles everywhere while introducing new listeners to some of the funkiest stuff out of the late 1960s you’d ever hear.
Perhaps best known for this time spent in New England-based psych rock band MMOSS, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Doug Tuttle had developed a reputation as a artist of his own right with the release of his solo debut, an effort that had been praised for possessing a jittery, love-lorn anxiety paired with Tuttle’s dexterous guitar work and his carefully crafted psychedelic-tinged pop. Tuttle’s forthcoming sophomore effort, It Calls On Me, slated for a February 26 release through renowned indie label Trouble In Mind Records will further cement the New Hampshire-born singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist’s reputation for crafted psych pop while revealing a subtle yet marked change in sonic direction as the material is dreamier and more ethereal, as you’ll hear on the album’s latest single and album title track “It Calls On Me.” Thanks to some impressive guitar licks played through a variety of effects pedals, paired with cymbal-led propulsive percussion, an equally propulsive bass line, Tuttle’s lilting and cooed vocals, the song sounds as though it could have been released sometime between 1963-1969 as the guitar solo reminds me quite a bit of Robby Kreiger’s expressive and expansive solo in The Doors‘ “Light My Fire,” while the song manages to be subtly modern as it channels contemporary acts such as Raccoon Fighter.
Tuttle and his touring band will play a number of dates throughout February and March to support the new album and it includes a stop in Brooklyn. Check out tour dates below.
Tour Dates
2/17: Detroit, MI – Marble Bar
2/18: Chicago, IL – The Owl #
2/19: Cleveland, OH – Happy Dog #
2/20: Cincinnati, OH – The Comet #
2/21: Nashville, TN- East Room #
2/22: Atlanta, GA- 529 #
2/23: Chapel Hill, NC – Local 506
2/24: Richmond, VA – TBA
2/25: Brooklyn, NY – Rough Trade
2/26: Providence, RI – AS220 ^
2/27: Boston, MA – Lillypad ^
2/28: Portsmouth, NH – 3S Artspace ^
# – w/ Paperhead
^ – w/ Herbcraft
New Video: The Creepily Seductive New Video for Psychic Love’s “Nancy”
Psychic Love is the (mostly) solo recording project of Los Angeles-based Laura Peters, who occasionally collaborates with Erick Jordan. Reportedly inspired by the true crime series that constantly air on Investigation Discovery and other […]
New Audio: Introducing the 60s Channeling Psych Rock Sound of Heron Oblivion
Comprised of Meg Baird (drums and vocals), Noel V. Harmonson (guitar), Charlie Saufley (guitar) and Ethan Miller (bass), the San Francisco-based psych rock quartet Heron Oblivion can trace their origins to several different musical projects and […]
New Video: Stella Diana’s Lush and Anthemic “Shohet”
Comprised of Dario Torre (vocals and guitar), Giacomo Salzano (bass guitar), Raffaele Bocchetti (guitar), and Davide Fusco (drums), the Italian psych rock quartet Stella Diana have gradually developed a national reputation for a sound that draws […]
New Video: Lights That Change’s Spectral, Synth-based Cover of Tim Buckley’s “Songs To The Siren”
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 […]
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 […]