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.
