Psychic Heat are a band who are new to me. A four piece from Lawrence, Kansas (USA); they are, with apologies, from a place that I’ve never heard of before either. Mapping the band’s music, however, takes me into more familiar territory. According to the band themselves they “draw…inspiration from the British neo-psych pop scene …

If you’re reading this it is more likely than not that you will be aware of what is broadly known as the ‘psych’ scene. This is a broad and ultimately undefinable musical niche which is both global and, despite its ineffability, is strangely distinct. Problematic as this is it is a useful hook on which …

I have only recently come across Italian three-piece Black Rainbows. The stoner rock band’s ‘Hawkdope’ album from last year was one that grabbed me immediately when I first heard it a month or so ago. So when I found out that the band had a new impending release I was all over it like a …

  Darkness Numbness Anger Hopelessness Emptiness Despair All words to describe how many of us have felt since May 7th 2015 as the forces of capitalism got a huge nose full of ‘fuck you’ powder as our communities and services are dismantled to make way for a frenzy of corporate greed. Meanwhile those in charge …

There is nothing new on this Psych Insight playlist, rather a collection of tracks that I really love and come back to again and again. I hope that you dig them too.   Sex Priest by Buffalo Tooth From the album ‘Gardeners of the Devil’s Lettuce’ (Captcha Records). If you haven’t heard this yet…you really …

Mugstar appear to be on a roll at the moment. With a new album, Magnetic Seasons, receiving rave reviews (my rave review is here), and a reputation as an amazing live band that just seems to get bigger. This seemed a great time to find out more about the band and how it has taken …

This year already seems to be hotting up with new bands and new albums coming out of every cosmic orifice. Here’s another selection of Psych Insight tunes, mostly new but with a couple of older ones thrown in. As always, enjoy!   Pharmakon by Dead Sea Apes I recently played the Dead Sea Apes ‘Lupus’ …

The very existence of this album is a sad reflection of our times. JuJu is the latest incarnation of Sicily-based Gioele Valenti (Lay Llamas, Herself) who uses the ancient idea of JuJu, the designation of  objects, such as amulets, and spells used ceremoniously in West Africa and broadens its to encompass a mix of rhythmic psychedelia, ancient …

Most of the albums that I post on here are of the variety that could be filed under the general term ‘difficult’. Not as in ‘difficult second album’, but as in ‘a difficult and challenging listen’. Nothing wrong with that, if a band have put in a lot of effort to come up with part …

I have to admit that I’ve had this album sitting on my review list for quite a while now. There was something about it that made me hesitate and for a good while I could not really work out what it was. As music fans we all come with baggage from our sonic biographies and …