Psych

New album: Gringo Star || On And On And Gone

By / / Garage Rock, Psych / Leave a Comment

Atlanta-based slacker rock outfit Gringo Star return with new full-length On And On And Gone. Over fifteen years into their career, Nicholas Furgiuele (vocals, guitar) and his brother Peter Furgiuele (guitar, keys) have developed their own sound that merges surf pop infused garage psych and doo-wop drenched R&B in a cinematic summer soundtrack. The ten new songs, recorded together with Joshua Longino (bass) and Mario Colangelo (drums), are dreamy, but clear melodies break through the haze. The lyrics reinforce the relaxed atmosphere: “All I do is lay around but I’ll wait // I could never tell it’s through till it’s too late” (from Hanging Around). This may be music with a vintage feel, but it will brighten up your 2023 holiday playlist for sure.


On And On And Gone is out now digitally, on CD and vinyl LP through My Anxious Mouth. For fans of The Growlers, Dead Ghosts, Night Beats.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

Dusted || The 10 Best Cover Songs Of May 2023

By / / Alternative Rock, Country & Folk, Garage Rock, Glam Rock, Indie Rock, Power Pop, Psych, Punk / Leave a Comment

Not all new music is really new, as many artists cover songs. Sometimes these are songs by their favorite artists, eg as a tribute to such a musical hero for a special reason, or they simply feel that a song deserves to be dusted and polished to reacquaint fans with great songs from the past. Other times, bands cover songs as a parody. Regardless of intent, some of those cover versions are so good or so much fun, we’d like to put a spotlight on them. Chosen from a wide range, here are – in random order – ten of our favorite covers from last month – links to the pages where you can add them to your wantlist included.

May brought us new cover releases of Munlet (Plays Devo), Dropkick Murphy’s (Okemah Rising, with lyrics by Woody Guthrie), Leftover Salmon (Grass Roots), Jarko & the Kandy Jar Joyride (Vagabond’s Delight), Healing Potpourri (Lagniappe Session) and Murder By Death (As We Wish), and various artists doing cartoon theme songs (Saturday Morning Lineup) and T. Rex (Elemental Child – The Words and Music of Marc Bolan). There was much more to choose from, but we would like to give the following ten tunes a prominent place on our stage. Perhaps our most eclectic selection to date?

Tall Cool One || Cover: Thomas Lauderdale & The Pilgrims || Original: The Wailers
In 1997 Portland, Oregon-based jazz orchestra Pink Martini released their debut album Sympathique. Reportedly, their bandleader Thomas Lauderdale also collaborated with the surf musicians – fellow townsmen – of The Pilgrims in the same period. The 13 tracks they recorded at the time are finally seeing the light of day: Thomas Lauderdale Meets The Pilgrims (Heinz Records) is out now digitally and on vinyl LP. It includes this showy cover of The Fabulous Wailers’ Tall Cool One, a favorite instrumental from the early days of garage rock – both the original and cover still sound contemporary.

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New single: Pelomono || Danza De La Cobra

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Surf rock can be found on all possible wavelengths. That of Spanish duo Pelomono is on the far left of the dial, where influences from krautrock and sounds from exotic instruments seep through. Although the two musicians are wearing masks on stage, we know that we’re dealing with Antonio Pelomono and Pedro de Dios (Guadalupe Plata). At the end of 2020 they released their nice debut LP Gibraltar, which they now follow up with two new instrumental songs. On side A’s title track Danza De La Cobra (translated: cobra dance) they inimitably fuse electric guitars with a melody from an ancient ritual from India used to charm snakes. B-side Alguien Me Persigue (someone is chasing me) comes from the soundtrack of a film directed by American filmmaker Hulser Haselford, heard in a scene where a monkey flees from a phantom threat. Dark and psychedelic, danceable and bewitching.

Danza De La Cobra, produced by Pike Cavalero and Mario Cobo, is out now digitally and on vinyl 7″ through Everlasting Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album (and video premiere!): Vanity Mirror || Puff

By / / Glam Rock, Indie Pop, Psych / Leave a Comment

Vanity Mirror features the multi-talented Brent Randall (Gentle Brent, Electric Looking Glass) and Johnny Toomey (The Turns, Electric Looking Glass). Today, the duo release their debut LP PUFF. Below you can read my thoughts on this (spoiler alert) Psych Pop masterpiece. But first, let me direct your attention to the band’s latest video which we are honored to premiere here at Add To Wantlist. The black-and-white video is for the quietest song from PUFF, the heartbreakingly gorgeous Somehow You Know. It was directed by Fred Joseph who also worked with the likes of Uni Boys, Triptides and Young Guv. The band explains: “We have been big fans of Fred’s for a long time. He’s a true artist and creates stunning analog TV/film pieces often utilizing period accurate vintage video equipment. He works out of the lovely Savannah Studios and you may have seen his work with many choice West Coast artists as of late. Fred was generous to collaborate with us to create this stunning vignette for Somehow You Know. Filmed with black and white vintage broadcast cameras, the camera floats around the studio on a track capturing us performing the song but also discovering a series of other little surreal and romantic scenes featuring our friends. Almost like a dream sequence or moment of clarity when many interconnected memories flood your mind all at once. And that is really what the song is about, making sense of things without being able to necessarily verbalize it.”  [post continues below video]

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New album: Guadalupe Plata || Guadalupe Plata (2023)

By / / Blues & Roots, Psych / Leave a Comment

Spanish psychedelic blues rock duo Guadalupe Plata debuted in 2008 with a self-titled EP, which Pedro de Dios Barceló (guitar, vocals) and Carlos Jimena (drums) followed up with self-titled LPs in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2018. So it really was time for a new one, and here it is (for the record: they also released an album in 2021, but it actually had a different name: Devil Can’t Do You No Harm). The thirteen fresh songs are as mesmerizing, poisonous and hypnotic as ever, but less raw and more groovy and laid back, you could even call them melancholic and cinematic. The sound is loose and primitive, transporting you to a gritty environment where snakes are just as dangerous as the heat of the sun.


Guadalupe Plata (2023), produced by Guadalupe Plata and Raúl Pérez, is out now digitally, on CD and vinyl LP through Everlasting Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Sunfruits || One Degree

By / / Glam Rock, Psych / Leave a Comment

Melbourne/Naarm band Sunfruits knows like no other how to link a sunny sound to dark themes. Winter Mcquinn (guitar, vocals), Evie Vlah (guitar, vocals), Elena Jones (bass, vocals) and Gene Argiro (drums, vocals) play uplifiting psychedelic pop/rock with folk, glam and garage rock influences, but from their lyrics shows how environmentally conscious and politically aware they are. Their eclectic and emotional debut album One Degree features eleven songs that transport you from fear to hope. Has there ever been such joyful singing about the End Of The World? This music surprises with new hooks around every turn, with the harmony vocals standing out.


One Degree, produced by Gene Argiro & Theo Carbo, is out digitally and on vinyl LP through Third Eye Stimuli Records / Earth Libraries.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Earth Libraries || Third Eye Stimuli

New album: The Dream Machine || Thank God It’s The Dream Machine…

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Not to be confused with at least a dozen previous bands of the same name, here we’re talking about Merseyside (UK) four-piece The Dream Machine, featuring Zak McDonnell (vocals, guitar, percussion), Matthew Gouldson (guitar, keys), Jack Inchboard (bass, backing vocals) and Isaac Salisbury (drums). After three four-track EPs (compiled on the Vol: 1-3 LP), they’ve now released their self-produced debut album. Thank God! It’s The Dream Machine… consists of twelve appealing songs shifting between baroque pop and psychedelic garage rock, a melting pot of styles rooted in the 60s. What’s striking is how strong, rich and diverse this record is, with charismatic biting vocals (so characteristic of British bands), atmospheric harmonies, hypnotic melodies, and percussion that reveals a good eye for detail. This is certainly a new Dream Machine to be thankful for.

Thank God It’s The Dream Machine… is out on CD and vinyl LP through Run On Records / Modern Sky UK.

Add to wantlist: Discogs || Run On Records

New album: The Fyoogs || Ambedo

By / / Country & Folk, Psych / Leave a Comment

The Fyoogs are an Australian rock band inspired by the lonely deserts of South Australia’s wild and rugged west coast. Their new full-length album Ambedo has seven drawn-out tracks that effortlessly evoke the atmosphere and temperature that prevail there. It’s cinematic music with a 70s feel, laid-back, groovy and exciting at the same time, not least thanks to the gritty vocals. Expect a sweltering mix of blues, country, psych and surf – desert rock – in which an organ, saxophone or children’s choir can pop up just like that. For fans of JJ Cale and RF Shannon.


Ambedo, recorded/mixed/mastered/produced by Evan James, is out now digitally via 3889953 Records DK. Musicians: Simon Hartley (lyrics, vocals, guitar), Kevin Lewis (bass), Rodrigo Andres Gonzalez Bea (percussion), Micheal Filmer-Smith (keyboards), Takashiva Nanda (drums), Damien Hills (saxophone), Chris Parkinson (acoustic guitar), Jim Marshall (drums), Tasman Daish (keyboards), Robin Bushell (violin), and a choir featuring Olivia, Emma, Mia, Ivy, Leilana and Charli.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: The Lavender Flu || Assorted Promenades

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The new The Lavender Flu EP Assorted Promenades has 9 songs, but officially is an EP. That makes sense. Not just because it’s relatively short playing length, but also because its content defies boundaries. That makes Assorted Promenades a great fit on the Mind Meld, a sublabel of Total Punk that is designed to release eclectic music. In case of The Lavender Flu, a personal favorite of the Total Punk head honcho, the music is a hypnotic mix of psych, garage pop, tape hiss and sonic soundscapes. Or as I’d call it: a perfect backdrop for typing away in my home office. Assorted Promenades mixes traditional (yet exciting) psych-y garage pop (listen to Dream Girl – originally by Oscar Mack) with brain tickling dreamy melodies (listen to the eponymous track) and more sonic weirdness.

The Assorted Promenades EP was originally planned as a single around a cover of Moby Grape’s I Am Not Willing, but the inspiration of Chris Gunn and his fellow band members was too high to fit the 7″ single format. The Lavender Flu did not want to waste the interesting material their sessions produced, and listening to this EP I fully agree. This is one adventurous, interesting and pleasant trip to faraway places. Buy the 12″ at Mind Meld!



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Rubber Band Gun || Shut Up and Deal

By / / Indie Pop, Psych / Leave a Comment

Rubber Band Gun is the solo project of New Jersey prodigy Kevin Basko. As owner and operator of recording studio Historic New Jersey he has the means to record music, but apart from that he also has the gift to write great song after great song. To the hugely impressive list of output so far he now adds the new full-length album Shut Up and Deal. Highlights include psych pop charmer Big Step, jangle pop portrait Family Biz, catchy glam stomper Lighten Up, exotic floor filler The Green Flash and uplifting summer hit Ready Or Not, which shows how diverse this collection of 16 tunes is. These are fine, sunny melodies, where quality is not inferior to quantity.




Shut Up and Deal is out now digitally. All songs written, performed, recorded, engineered, mixed and mastered by Kevin Basko, with a little help from Emily Moales (vocals, melodica, keyboards), Riley Byrne (bass on The Green Flash) and Pat Gaeta (percussion on The Green Flash).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

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