Once in a while something slithers by my ears that makes me perk up a bit. Something with a certain upbeat charm that doesn’t float by as often as it should. Hell, maybe it’s me. Maybe I’m getting too old to appreciate that “new” sound. Maybe I’m too much of a curmudgeon to really enjoy what these kids are doing these days. But then, there’s that one song I hear and realize that it’s not me. I’m the same hip, in-the-know fella from Midwest, USA that was the one who introduced his big brother to a band called Soundgarden back in 1989, at barely 16 years young. Hearing them for the first time it felt like coming across some ancient knowledge. Or an inside joke only myself and the creator of the universe knew. I felt like I’d heard something that would certainly change the face of popular music. Indeed I had, and I’d also really impressed my older brother and his drunken, stoned friends.
I got that feeling again when I spun this new track from Midwest, USA by-way-of Indiana’s own Triptides. Now this is a four-piece outfit that started as a bedroom project(there’s a lot of these bedroom projects in Indiana…something to do with pesticides in the cornfields and evil scarecrows, methinks) of Glenn Brigman(guitar, vocals) and Josh Menashe(guitar, vocals). Along the way these two Hoosiers lost the bedroom but gained two more bandmates in Josh Morrow(drums) and Dylan Sizemore(bass). Triptide’s new album is called Predictions, and they have released the first single and title track. It’s a chunk of stately psych pop somewhere between Tame Impala and the Kinks. With some harpsichord and slightly drugged-out vocals, the track harkens back to classic late-60s pop when bands like The Beatles and The Kinks were experimenting and expanding their sounds, both by blowing up the confines of pop music and dropping acid at the same time. Tight drums that go from jazzy fills to breezy ride cymbal carefree interludes, along with great guitar lines that never puff out their chests to show off. They only help add depth and move the song along on this spacey and hazy psych pop trip.
Do yourself a favor and mark your calendars for November 4th, as that’s when Predictions will be ready for mass consumption.
