Thursday, 14 January 2016

Night Beats - Who Sold My Generation, album review



psychegarager&b

This blog has regularly followed the rise of retro-rock, though this is probably only the tip of the acidberg, and now band Night Beats has come to my attention in a swirl of genuine psychedelia and some garage in the raw authenticity of guitar.

A trio, but not the power format and more the garagepsyche of mid 60s, opening Celebration #1 is informed by its psyche backdrops and the spoken-echo of a narrative, guitars fuzzed and distorted, whilst second Power Child thrusts in with sharper rhythms and beats, but never heavy. Fifth Porgue Manana is as raw garage as you can get, and sounds wonderfully like a live gig in a small hall. This is followed by Sunday Mourning where by now I am confirmed in hearing those other purveyors of this kind of psyche-revisiting, Kula Shaker, and I have no idea if this namecheck would alienate or resonate: I always felt KS gave homage credibility, as do NB. 



Shangri Lah also does some reminding, and it is of The Electric Prunes, though it is again more the garage over the psychedelic, but as I have said, it is that mid to a little later 60s sound. Eighth Burn to Breathe is some fine garage R&B, whilst Bad Love is even more direct with its big horn blasts.

On tour in the UK from the 21st of this month, they will be playing Leeds, Glasgow, Manchester, Nottingham, Brighton and London. Alas, not near enough to me, so I will catch them next time.

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