(Psychedelic/Space Rock, Krautrock) [CD] Psychic Lemon - Discography - 2016-2018 - 2 Albums+EP, FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Pretty much on a daily basis I get 4 or 5 emails from bands/labels/PR bods asking for some coverage on Dayz of Purple, which is really cool. Some are big names in the scene, some not so well-known and some are small and probably known only in their local town....again really cool. In a week I reckon on 4 or 5 being pretty essential, 2 or 3 being OK, 3 or 4 not really within the remit of this blog and the rest don't really float my boat. However, every now and then a 'small' band will contact me whose material just blows me away...Psychic Lemon are one of those. Psychic Lemon are 4 guys from Cambridge whose influences include " Goat, The Heads and Amon Duul II" and who rehearse and record 5 minutes from Syd Barrett's place...off to a flyer boys!. They play some awesomely good psychedelic/krautrock stuff that is filled with groove and oozes class.
First track, 'TiCkToK' opens with an irresistible bassline before some frantic wah-wah kicks in. The track settles into a post-punk kosmische tune, the vocals interspersed with that fab guitar. I defy anyone not to nod their head or tap their feet to this....it maintains the krauty feel but is simultaneously funky. Towards the end we are even treated to some jazzy flute (Ron Burgundy anyone?). 'Death Cult Blues' is the standout track, a real 70s krautrock feel and more flute. It flows and rocks effortlessly...these guys know what they are doing. The flute lends the track a proggy feel (I'm trying really hard not to mention Jethro Tull!) but the overwhelming vibe is cosmic. The track evolves into a psych jam of the highest standard...I find it hard to believe that these guys only played their first gig together 18 months ago. By the end of the track guitars, drums, flute and spacey synths come together effortlessly to play out what is a fantastic track. 'Good Cop Bad Cop' is a funkier affair with a Gang of Four, post-punk bassline, and some seventies inflected wah-wah. The ever present flute adds to the seventies feel while lush washes of synth imbue the track with a spacey feel....another irresistible track. The beginning of 'Analogue Summer' changes the mood with the sound of birdsong and Cocteau Twins-like guitar giving it a hazy, dreamy feel...keyboard effects and what sounds like slide guitar adding to the bucolic atmosphere, almost verging on Americana. 'Dilator' arrives with a flourish; another driving tune with a motorik rhythm and guitars straight from the Hawkwind manual. The vocals, when they arrive, have a cynical tone which gives the track a flash of flint and menace. This is another kosmische number rooted in the seventies. The album is closed with 'Horizon', the longest track on the album at just over ten minutes.
Opening with a snatch of spoken world before some Dick Dale guitar kicks in over another motorik driven rhythm driving things forward. Just as you think they are going to reach a crescendo, things break down into a softer, lilting guitar part before the drums kick in again and the vocals plaintively urge " Lie still with me" which acts as a cue for some wah-wah and more metronomic drums. After another vocal passage things start building again towards a crescendo...and this time it arrives, with squalling guitar and a gallimaufry of space effects before the album is played out with a howl of feedback......a suitably satisfying manner in which to finish an exceptional album. If an album of this quality was released by a 'better known' group, it would be hailed as a classic. I find it remarkable that this is the debut of a band who have only been together five minutes....the cohesion and synchronicity they show belies this fact....this sounds like the work of a band who have played together for years. The clever mixing of styles and instruments shows true creativity and invention. In case I haven't made it clear....I fuckin' love this.
[dayzofpurpleandorange.blogspot.com]

- Andrew Briston / guitar, vocals, keyboard, acoustic guitar
- Andrew Hibberd / bass
- Martin Law / drums, percussion
- George Horler / guitar, vocals, slide guitar
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- Dan Ellis / flute

Over five tracks, 43 minutes and multivarious universes, 'Frequency Rhythm Distortion Delay' doesn't stop for breath or comfort breaks but that doesn't matter because for the listener time becomes irrelevent...a theoretical construct, such is the power that this album holds. 'Exit To The Death Lane' opens proceedings with a flurry of neo-psych guitars and crashing drums, all coming together to form that mythical 'wall of sound'. Muted vocal choruses and some superlative guitar work break through this wall and the whole feel changes into something...well...just incredibly psychedelic. It channels the 'Happenings' era Floyd and the spacey hustle of Hawkwind and yet remains firmly Psychic Lemon. 'Hey Droog!' is a monster - huge riffs and more muted vocals that sound almost choral herald moments of sheer psych heaven...it is driven forward by pummelling drums (I swear Martin has 3 arms!) and throbbing basslines. It is heavy and yet remarkably fluid...an absolute masterclass. If Alex and his droogs had listened to this instead of Beethoven then 'A Clockwork Orange' would be a whole different tale. 'You're No Good' reins in the visceral power for a more melody based approach, complete with vocals. The high tempo fuzz is still there as are the motorik rhythms but the 'feel' is more one of Amon Duul rather than Hawkwind...but there is a sting in the tail...a minute or so from the end there enters a skronky saxophone and the whole vibe changes again, albeit for a short time. 'Interstellar Fuzz Star' is, for me, the highlight...a cosmic jam of huge proportions. It has an ebb and flow that gives it an organic feel, like the track itself were a sentient being; passages of repetition based jamming followed by some seriously high class, high octane space rock. This track felt to me like the live Psychic Lemon 'experience' being committed to tape...it has the same intensity and quality and feeling of improvisation...sheer brilliance. The album is brought to a close with 'Satori Disko' - a more laid back number with the emphasis firmly on atmosphere. Electronica plays a more central role with bubbling, spacey effects and seemingly random bleeps acting as a backdrop to metronomic drums and some seriously lush guitarwork. I wouldn't go as far as saying it is 'blissed out' but it certainly helps to re-centre the head after the grey matter melting workout given by the preceding tracks.
'Frequency Rhythm Distortion Delay' has already given us the benchmark by which all other albums will be measured this year...it is a work of psychedelia that respectfully reflects the band's influences but still manages to be something different, something unique in the psych arena. Taking psych, krautrock and space rock in equal measures, Psychic Lemon have applied their alchemical skills to produce the musical equivalent of the Philosopher's Stone. A rare and precious thing this....a complete work, a magnum opus that exhilarates and leaves the listener spellbound. All of this has been done by guys who are unassuming and gentlemen to a man....no 'rockstar' pretensions or diva-like hissy fits...just blokes doing what they love and doing it fucking well. This is superb!
[dayzofpurpleandorange.blogspot.com]

- Andy Briston / guitar, vocals, keyboard, acoustic guitar
- Andy Hibberd / bass guitar
- Martin Law / drums, percussion
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- Iain Roddick / saxophone

- Andrew Briston / guitar, vocals, all loops
- Andrew Hibberd / bass
- Martin Law / drums, Korg