THEIR self-titled debut back in 2018 was a bit of a cracker, frankly; they received the love from The Coral guitarist Paul Molloy last year, picking them when we popped round to his (figuratively speaking) and did a Soundtrack Of Our Lives, looking at the music he loves; and lo! they’re back, be glad, with a proper riffin’ psych-pop banger, “The Wounds Of Love”.
They’ve released that right this second, this being written for 10am; go glory in the video below, you can always come back for the words.
It comes with a shake-yo’lock riff, knowing lyrical nods to the Floyd and U2, and a big, BIG, baroque refrain; and to finish you off, dirtily acid guitars served up from some great ‘n’ groovy psych club that lives in our collective memory of seeing lip-curlin’ shredding in the flesh. Even a little “I Am The Walrus” or ELO in those stern, biting strings in the coda. Bravo.
That debut album, three years hence, was noted as a “new lost classic” by Q, which has of course itself since joined the ranks of the bygone; but vocalist and bassist Ned Crowther, guitarist Jamie Backhouse and keyboardist and sax go-to man Austin Murphy have been hungry for new thrills.
They’ve been down with some weird soundtrackery of late, exploring the catalogues of John Carpenter and Wendy Carlos, loving cellos and open tunings, the Juno synth, all of which contribute to that potent, heady mix; they’ve even called upon legendary The Stairs frontman Edgar Jones – and there’s a man who knows a thing or two about garage and psych.
The lyrics draw on Oscar Wilde’s 1888 short story “The Selfish Giant”, revisiting age-old themes which still trouble us today.
Ned says: “The song is coloured by contrasting shades of fear, division, fury, injustice, walls, borders, kindness, redemption and forgiveness.
“Wilde’s story is, in the same way, a forbidding yet redemptive parable for children, which resonates more than ever in today’s turbulent world.”
They’ve been busy at work in studios in the North West and South West, cooking up that follow-up. Should be one sexy psych record.
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