Strangers Family Band – S/T (Xemu
Records)
Strangers Family Band take
their influences from ‘60s pop-combos (The Kinks, The Beatles, The Rolling
Stones) as well as obscurer stimulus, including The West Coast Pop Art
Experimental Band, Os Mutantes and Strawberry Alarm Clock, and their debut
(produced by label mates, Dead Meadow bassist, Steve Kille) shows this clearly.
Lead track, “Yaer Time”,
set to a fuzzy jangly riff, is a lethargic and fear fuelled deal and to be fair
their Pink Floyd laced catch line, “hello, is there anybody out there” outstays
its welcome in the drawn out ending - which is a shame. There’s a major
preoccupation with elevation running throughout the record, tied in to themes
of space travel (“Starship to the Sun”, “Cosmic Wine”) or drugs (the punny
“Elle S Dee” - whose sitar adds eastern promise - and “Mary Jane”).
They save the best until
last with “Jenny 3003”, expanding from a Syd Barrett-esque frail and naive
intro, to include alien abduction and sun-kissed Tropicalia, before returning
to the cosmos and kicking into an echo drenched space-stoner groove.
Keeping to a vinyl LP’s
length restriction, this is a brief and enjoyable ride, and if like me you’re a
sucker for ‘60s psych, you’ll dig it.
Willsk
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