Photo voltaic Eyes: Stay Freaky! Die Freaky!
Vinyl | CD | DL
Launched 26 September
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
The brand new album from Birmingham’s Photo voltaic Eyes takes them onto an entire new stage of twisted freakbeat. Amy Britton evaluations…
If ever there was an album title that tell us what a wild journey we’re in for , its “Stay Freaky! Die Freaky!” If Birmingham’s Photo voltaic Eyes’ eponymous debut album lay a basis for his or her position as new faces of British psychedelia, then its secure to say this follow-up album swirls about on mentioned basis in a hazy freak-out and will get all its bizarre mates to hitch in whereas its about it. The title is, in reality, lifted from a 2006 black comedy stop-motion animation impressed by the Manson household, and that may be a theme shared by the movie and this report. Those that’ve heard lead single Murdering Hippies , impressed by watching “As soon as Upon A Time In Hollywood” , will definitely have had a way of the entire album – opening the report, it units the mind-bending scene completely.
This sense is maintained all through on an album that ceaselessly looks like a sonic model of a look by way of a kaleidoscope, with hypnotic tracks equivalent to I See The Solar and Time Waits For No One winding like a sunlit whirlpool. After all, behind this brilliant, neon world are the fixed solutions of one thing a lot darker constantly lurking beneath like an undercurrent. This sense definitely appears to peak across the center of the report, after the deeply melodic A Couple Of Kisses has given approach to Your Love Is Like A Drug, with its references to a “zombie trance”, towards virtually cultish chants echoing the darker facet of Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd. That is form of a narcotic-themed double invoice on the album, being adopted by Speedball Lovers, its handclaps and unflinching lyrical theme pulling in and commanding the listener. With the previous of those two tracks additionally referencing “ready for the person,” there’s definitely additionally echoes of the Velvet Underground there, which can be heard sonically all through, particularly on the squalls of fuzz of No River On The Horse which throws the broad sound large open.
There’s much less apparent influences too – Set The Evening On Fireplace and Rubiks Dice even incorporating a spaghetti Western vibe – however they by no means lose sight of a cohesive sound – or the theme. Mr Magpie’s aural hints of one thing Japanese and unique broods with mysticism, seeming to echo the occultist by way of sound alone, and slower-paced nearer Whats up Charlie brings every little thing full circle. Crucially, the Manson household have far too typically been glamourised as counterculture icons, Photo voltaic Eyes handle to swerve this tastelessness by retaining them as an lyrical theme, relatively than a glorified inspiration. A daring and dizzying album which ought to sees Photo voltaic Eyes climbing into the subsequent stage.
Order Stay Freaky! Die Freaky! and discover extra from Photo voltaic Eyes on their Bandcamp https://solareyesuk.bandcamp.com/album/solar-eyes
All phrases by Amy Britton. Discover extra on right here archive https://louderthanwar.com/writer/amy-britton
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