Lost In the Black Sea of Neo Psychedelica
This eye jiggling psychedelic design appeared on the cover of the Black Angel's 2008 album, Directions to See a Ghost.
I love psychedelic music and have a large collection of vintage vinyl psychedelic albums from the Sixties & early Seventies by bands with odd names that nobody's ever heard of. When I moved to Boston in the Seventies, I became a big fan of garage rockers like DMZ, the Lyres, the Modern Lovers and Willie Alexander. So I also have a slew of cds by neo psychedelic and garage rock bands the dates from the mid-Seventies right up to 2010. Here a four of my favorite bands.
The Chesterfield Kings- Up and Down
The Chesterfield Kings have been around forever and are arguably the ground zero band of the early 80s garage band/neo psychedelic revival. Nearly every album they make is a classic in the neo psych genre. Musically, the Chesterfield Kings are a one trick pony but they that trick better than anyone else.
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The Pillbugs- 4 Sec Nightmare in A 5 Sec Dream
The Pillbugs may give sitars, pianos, farfisas, strings, and even some quaint backwards tape a workout, but they're unlike most Americans heading thataways--it isn't American/Nuggets psych-pop that inspires them. OK, there's a little Love ("Make Like Arthur Lee"), Byrds ("Hold Me So Near"), and Left Banke, but mostly their music is a beautifully British-inspired concoction.
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The Warlocks- Come Save Us
"The Warlocks" had been a moniker that had been previously used by early incarnations of both the Velvet Underground and the Grateful Dead. While no one will mistake this Los Angeles based band for a Deadhead band, the Warlocks' earliest recordings do often sound like they're channeling a fever-soaked Velvet Underground (circa White Light, White Heat), while drawing further influence from space rock, prog, and Krautrock bands (including Neu! and Hawkwind). I've seen these guys live and they are insanely good.
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The Black Angels- Telephone
The Black Angels have gotten a great deal of internet buzz as of late. The Black Angels have been on the Austin Texas music scene for about five years and on their latest album
Phospehene Dream, the Angels sound like the house band at Pandora's Box on Sunset Strip in 1966.
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I'm working on a list of essential neo psychedelic and garage band albums which I'll print on this blog in the near future. If you have any bands or albums to suggest please leave a note on the thread.