Browsing Tag

60s Psych Pop

Hotel Florentia squeezed 60s psych-pop into garage rock with their saturated-in-delay slice of eccentric reverie, The 11th Hour

Posted on 7 November 2024

The Italian pop-rock duo Hotel Florentia squeezed the psychedelia of 60s pop into their criminally underrated lo-fi garage gem, The 11th Hour, allowing listeners to revel in a slice of indie reverie that matches the sublimity of The Maccabees and the Violent Femmes.

With melodies that burrow their way straight into the soul and turn up the heat through the glow of wavy saturation and nostalgically sharpened hooks which imbue instantaneous accessibility and familiarity to the single, The 11th Hour is the ultimate introduction to the Lodi-based outfit which are no strangers to international stages.

Equally as sweet as the instrumentals is the sense of playfully unfeigned eccentricity which sees the single become so much more than the sum of its parts. If Pavement never fails to leave you enamoured with their zanily electric vignettes, prepare to fall head over rhythmic pulses for The 11th Hour.

The 11th Hour is available to stream on all major platforms, including SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Denim Dan is in the borderlands between optimism and pensive resignation in the folky 60s psych-pop single, ‘Guess I’ll Be Alright’

Posted on 2 September 2024
Denim Dan

The invitation to celebrate Denim Dan’s 25th Anniversary (1994 – 2024) is the hottest sonic ticket on the airwaves. The commemorative LP compilates some of the biggest hits from the band’s seven studio album legacy, including 3AM, Don’t Throw it Away, Let Your Love Fall Down on Me (Too) and Down By the River Bend Flow.

Every release earned its coveted space on the expansive double album, yet potentially none more so than the quintessential kaleidoscope of eccentric nostalgia, Guess I’ll Be Alright. After a smoky 60s psych-pop overture, the single unravels in Denim Dan’s signature folk troubadour style, which permits his vocals to flood the mix over the cosmically swanky melodies.

Few artists dare to lyrically roam in the grey area between pensive resignation and optimism, yet Denim Dan boldly ventured over unchartered emotional territory to sonically visualise a relatable sensation of suffering a blow to the soul but looking ahead with jaded self-assurance that wounds will eventually heal.

Following the release of Denim Dan’s 25th Anniversary (1994 – 2024), Denim Dan is starting a new chapter with a new album in the pipeline and set to drop in November 2024.

The anniversary album will be available to stream on all platforms, including Spotify, from September 2nd.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Riverman opened a doorway to 60s psychedelic pop summers with his alt-indie single, Somnambulism

Posted on 26 June 2024

Once you grab an oar with Riverman’s seminal single, Somnambulism, taken from his Summer Up / Summer Down LP, you’ll be reluctant to ever put it down. Riverman, the moniker of the Winston-Salem, NC-residing singer-songwriter Steve Hedrick, has earned his place in the pantheon of indie greats with this epoch-traversing genre-fluid installation of nostalgic euphony.

With sticky-sweet harmonies that pull at the heartstrings as fervently as Elliott Smith’s dreamy timbres juxtaposed with an exuberant indie-pop production which interweaves Johnny Marr-esque jangle-pop guitars and opens a doorway to 60s psychedelic pop summers all the while embracing brash, garage rock-infused licks, Somnambulism, which introduces Riverman as a ‘soporific spectre’ is a release that will send serotonin firing through your synapses.

The metaphorical exposition of sleepwalking is a masterclass in nostalgic synthesising. Riverman effortlessly infuses motifs from a broad sonic spectrum to pour a cocktail of aural summer haze that will quench your thirst for fresh indie sounds. It’s a lush escape that’s impossible to resist.

Stream Somnambulism on YouTube now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Take a soulfully psychedelic trip back to the 70s with DENIM DAN’s latest single, Guess I’ll Be Alright

Posted on 26 November 2023

“Guess I’ll Be Alright” from Denim Dan is a portal back to the smooth and rich tones of 70s rock and the vibrant psychedelic colours of 60s pop. While it marks a daring step in the band’s sound, it maintains the comforting and straightforward vocal style fans have come to adore from the outfit, which banded together in Boulder, Colorado, in 1996.

There’s an unmistakable soulfulness within the smoky layers of the music, with nods to Northern Soul and a subtle jazz influence that Denim Dan integrates seamlessly; the resulting sound is both nostalgic and fresh, an ambitious blend that pays homage to the past while forging its own path.

Following the international recognition with their sixth album, their seventh, Santa Maria’s Dome, from which Guess I’ll Be Alright is prised, resounds as a cultivated new beginning. A track which focuses on two friends trying to get the other over addiction could all too easily become a sombre sonic feat, but via the depth of the storytelling, the texturally upbeat musical backdrop and the signature vocals, which always portray melancholy as an option you need not take, Guess I’ll Be Alright is a realm of captivatingly uplifting intrigue.

Stream DENIM DAN’s latest album, Santa Maria’s Dome on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Darcy Court has released their triumph of a 60s-psych-tinged alt-indie debut, Bar of Clay

Posted on 18 April 2022

The instantly trailblazing 60s psych pop-inspired indie rock act, Darcy Court, brought plenty of the Cali heat into their euphonically blissful debut single, Bar of Clay, which unravels to the narration of the conflated emotions that transpire when locked in a too-good-to-be-true crash and burn relationship and all you can do is await the final collision.

The kaleidoscopic synaesthesia-inducing melodies feed into the rich timbre of the single that flirts with the alt-90s era just as much as the 60s psych-pop nuances to create an era-spanning indulgent tonal pool that you’ll find infinitely temperate.

Indie debuts don’t get much more promising than Bar of Clay. Darcy Court have got exactly what it takes to reach the same heights as their iconic 60s influences.

Bar of Clay was officially released on April 8th; it is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Cooper Walker gives us a 60s soul ‘Fix’ in his standout release.

Posted on 19 October 2021

Pop, jazz and blues entwine in the debut album from LA singer-songwriter and multi-instrumental artist Cooper Walker. His intoxicating mash of vintage guitars,  crooned vocals and uplifting piano chords will send you right back to the 60s while providing the ultimate proof that music contemporary music *can* hold a candle to music from iconic eras.

His modernist spin on sounds of the 60s is best enjoyed in the standout single, Fix, which is just as instantly cathartic as The Zombies, as sultry as John Mayall, and carries the sonic power of the Rolling Stones.

Walker’s infallible talent is one thing, the soul that is spilt in his debut album is quite another. You couldn’t ask for a better playlist staple in these dystopic times.

Fix, along with his debut 15-track album, is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Life gave James Sebastian lemons, and he made Lemon Sunshine.

Posted on 9 October 2021

60s psych-pop and 70s rock collide in the latest single to be released by the Exeter-based newcomer James Sebastian. ‘Lemon Sunshine’ is a stridently impassioned single that is viscerally flooded with raw vocal emotion but the dreamy vintage tones of the consistently ascending instrumentals take all of the sting out of the vocal defiance.

If you can imagine the point where the Beatles and the Stone Roses meet in the middle, you’ll get an idea of the kind of refreshing nostalgia James Sebastian is serving here. Lyrically, Sebastian delivered the ultimate post-breakup track that captures that bitter-sweet moment when you’re reminded of your own power and make no bones about taking it back.

Lemon Sunshine is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Phony Bedtime left us in a haze with their indie psych-pop single, Sundays.

Posted on 26 September 2021

Any fans of The Zombies will find themselves instantly enamoured by the hazily blissful tones in the standout indie psych-pop single, Sundays, from Phony Bedtime’s self-titled sophomore album.

Starting with gentle accordant guitars, intricate percussion and the low reverberating hums of the basslines, Sundays is as easy as breathing to slip into. Once the ethereal vocals drift into the bright and melodious soundscape, your soul would have to be defunct not to be captivated by Phony Bedtime’s sticky-sweet candour. Not every band can get away with being on the twee side of indie pop, but Phony Bedtime could give Neutral Milk Hotel a run for their money.

Sundays is now available to stream on Spotify along with the rest of the album.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

James Sebastian tells us like it is in ‘Love is only Love’

Posted on 25 August 2021
James Sebastian

70s rock revivalist, James Sebastian, is set to release his psych-tinged single, Love is only Love’, which sees his vocals consistently switching from choral 60s psych harmonies to raucous rock n roll affectionate proclamations which makes the single the perfect balance of fiery and sweet.

With his main inspirations listing Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and Harry Styles, the 20-year-old Drama and English student’s diverse sound is sure to resound with pop, rock, indie and psych fans alike. He’s one to watch.

Check out James Sebastian on Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lee Smythe raises a smile with ‘It’s Me’

Posted on 25 June 2021

How to describe Lee Smythe; well, if there’s a word somewhere specifically for that  anachronistic blend of quirky indie vibe perfection and total mainstream pop hit, then that would be a starting point to jump off.

‘It’s Me’, the follow-up to recent EP ‘King Of Cups’, is exactly that – something indescribably great that doesn’t quite fit into any pigeonhole you might have set aside for it. In the same vein as artists like the Urban Voodoo Machine, The Great Malarky, or the Jim Jones Revue, Smythe seems to straddle stylistic boundaries without ever really even noticing they’re there – part old-time London pub sing-along, part indie-pop cool, part alt-jazz musicality.

There’s touches of Daniel Powter, Jamie Cullum, and Harry Connick Jr. in here, but all with a mainstream pop take, and some cute-as-hell little vocal asides-to-camera; it’s just catchy as hell cool-as-fuck indie-pop awesomeness, and it’s absolutely grin-inducing.

Perfection in 4 minutes 12 seconds.

Check out Lee Smythe on Spotify and Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes