I didn’t discover the psychedelic wonder of Nolan Potter until late in 2021, after I had already done my non-metal end of year podcast over at Nine Circles. Still, Music Is Dead was was a massive sizzle to every part of my brain, and I had no choice but to make it my non-metal album of the year. Since then I vowed never to make the same mistake again, and I was right on top of things when Potter released The Perils of Being Trapped Inside A Head back in April. Once again written, recorded, and performed by Potter (with an assist by former Lake Of Fire partner Dillon Fernandez on synths, percussion, and vocals) at his home in Austin, TX, it’s a lovely, borderline-unclassifiable slab of great rock and pop, absorbing a myriad of styles in the name of confessional, DIY music that resonates with me just as much as his previous work. In other words, now it’s trapped inside my head, and I couldn’t be happier.

Beyond the swooning synths and dreamy reverb that permeates opener “Dig Me As I Am” it’s the percussion and drums that really shine forth. It’s a testament to the new paradigm of recording: we’re far behind the days where you need major label support to craft something that sounds truly fantastic. And all of The Perils of Being Trapped Inside A Head sounds fantastic; the soundstage and instrument separation is wide and open, and despite the many, many layers of nouns going on it’s all crystal clear. Potter turns on the modern indie rock for “Do I Have To Tick Your Tock?” and then turns it off halfway through for some serious space rock before returning to that fuzzed out rock riff that opened the song.

That brings up something I really love about Potter. I’ve long been a fan of this kind of indie garage rock that folds in so many layers of genres, particularly my beloved late 60s/early 70s psychedelic and progressive rock. But few of those have the shreddy, guitar heroics that Potter can pull out. It’s deceptive on a track like “The Mold That Grows On Harvey” with its heavy Beatles influence, but that great acoustic strumming hides a later solo that slays – both the “proper” solo and the revered delay distorted one that starts as background and rises to the fore working in unison with the other instruments.

It’s even more prevalent on “Reflect On Your Nectar” where his Zappa bonafides shine bright. It’s not just in his playing; his composition and arrangements have a thick, syrupy Frank vibe that instantly draws me in. I’ve put plenty of Nolan Potter songs in my (Un)Focused Definition playlists, but never “Reflect On Your Nectar” which is odd since I think it might be my favorite song on The Perils of Being Trapped Inside A Head. But honestly there’s not a dud to be found on the eight tracks and 40 minutes of pure sonic bliss. “Kevin Help Us” sonically gets to the melancholy that signifies Potter’s lyrical theme of being trapped inside your head and feeling locked out the world around you. It also very intentionally references Ian’s Anderson’s unique style in the flute solo.

Yeah, there is some serious flute on this album.

Speaking of Anderson and Tull, that’s the primary flavor I get from the title track, or at least it’s opening riff until it settles into a more groovy, acoustic slinky psychedelia. Love the organ on the track, the layered vocals, the subtle guitar licks that play just behind the acoustic strumming and driving drum work. “Ylang Ylang” really goes for that Beatles-esque psychedelia, It also references Bach in the keyboards, and it’s a delight that the lyrics match the hallucinogenic sounds.

Closing with “Disarray”, a track that again speaks to Zappa musically while vocally channeling soft AM rock (Potter has a fantastic voice, just one more highlight of the man’s broad musical talent), The Perils of Being Trapped Inside A Head gets better with every listen. When I put it on it stays on for the entire runtime, and during that runtime it’s my favorite album. There’s an ambition and scope to the songwriting that is so firmly set to my ears to the time I was growing up, experiencing the gargantuan canvas that mainstream radio was playing – not sure there will ever be a time again where you could have a radio station play such a variety of styles get an education on so many different genres.

Thank goodness Nolan Potter is here to do the same thing on one album.