Led by frontman and primary member Alexander Mann and featuring a rotating cast of collaborators, friends and studio and touring musicians, San Francisco, CA-based psych rock project Silent Pictures have started to receive both regional and national attention with the release of their latest full-length effort Let It Begin, an effort that consists of material that on a superficial level fits under the psych rock umbrella but manages to be mischievously and effortlessly plays with its boundaries as the band reportedly channels the likes of T-Rex, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Stone Roses and 90s Brit Pop — sometimes simultaneously.
Let It Begin‘s latest single “Time Has Broken/Let It Begin” will further cement the band’s burgeoning reputation as it features layers of guitars played through reverb and effects pedals, a propulsive, motorik-like groove with thundering drumming, an anthemic hook paired with lyrics that focus on a relativistic view of time. Sonically speaking the song sounds indebted to The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Stone Roses and Hookworms — while subtly hinting at shoegaze.
The recently released music video was filmed at an early 19th century Rosicrucian Temple and with shaky cameras, rapid fire cuts and cult symbolism, the video evokes a paranoid, trippy and frenetic world of conspiracies run by secret societies — while bearing an uncanny resemblance to 120 Minutes-era MTV.
