Les Rallizes Dénudés: ’77 Live (1991)

When people write about bands or artists that cross genres, they usually denote it by using some kind of punctuation, typical a slash. The near-mythical Les Rallizes Dénudés are that slash, the punctuation between their unique and mesmerizing blend of psychedelia, pop, and garage rock. Pierce the layers of squalling feedback and noise and you can hear the bubblegum pop and 60s R&B the legendary Takashi Mizutani used as a springboard to carve out one of the most interesting niches in music. To cap off Live Month we’re going to spend a week with the band, who never put out a proper studio album, only live, archival releases starting with ’77 Live, their blazing set at the Tachikawa Social Education Hall in Tokyo.

ChrisApril 21, 2025April 22, 20251 Comment

Vinyl

Freckle: Freckle (2025)

I’m still trying to figure out what it is that Ty Segall does that captures exactly what I’m looking for in a rock album. Despite his myriad incarnations and permutations, from the Sabbath stomp of bands like Fuzz to his Eno-esque limitations on albums like First Taste or his more out there collaborations with White Fence and Brian Chippendale 0f Lightning Bolt, there’s just something there that resonates in me. Nothing’s changed with Freckle, both the album and the new collaboration with Corey Madden of Color Green. Whether or not Freckle the band is a one-shot deal, I’m all in for its blend of psychedelic pop and guitar rock worship.

ChrisMarch 17, 2025March 17, 20251 Comment

Vinyl

Wand: Vertigo (2024)

You ever read a review for an album, and the reviewer makes a comparison to another band that you didn’t think of, and that becomes ALL you can hear afterward? I’ve always though of Wand as this swirling, psychedelic garage rock that started with more of a punk blast off and now with new album Vertigo have settled into this flowing, cinematic psychedelic rock that sweeps you into its currents and takes you on a journey. That all still applies, but now I can’t help but hear how much this also sounds like Radiohead. In the best possible way, of course (I love Radiohead) but it’s slightly frustrating to have that implanted in my brain. It doesn’t capture the earthiness of the songs, or the aural narrative the album leads you through.

ChrisDecember 17, 20241 Comment

Vinyl

Ty Segall: Three Bells (2024)

Going to take a brief break from the grouping of albums by the same artist/band/label to focus on another theme: some of my favorite new records. It can’t all be about music from 40 and 50 years ago, not when some of my favorite current artists have released some of their strongest work to date. And there’s no better way to kick that off than with Ty Segall, who after some interesting experiments with limitations on previous records (no guitar, acoustic, film soundtracks) has returned to his progressive garage roots with the fantastic double album Three Bells. It’s Segall operating in my favorite sonic space, and sounds like a culmination of a lot of the experimentation he’s engaged in the past few years.

ChrisApril 28, 2024May 4, 20242 Comments

album art for osees - intercepted message

Vinyl

Osees: Intercepted Message (2023)

It’s weird to be starting here, with the latest burst of garage psych sweetness from John Dwyer and co., but sometimes that’s how it goes. I fell into the Osees hole (or Thee Oh Sees, or Oh Sees, or OCS, or whatever new permutation Dwyer comes up with) in 2016 with the dual release of A Weird Exits and An Odd Entrances. It was also at the same time as my discovery of Ty Segall, and like that multi-hyphenate band leader, Dwyer and his rotating cast of musicians have put out a TON of music: at least seven proper LPs, not to mention reinterpretations, 20 minute long singles, and a bevy of side project (Bent Arcana being my favorite). But I just got my sweet vinyl for Intercepted Message, the outfit’s synth-heavy pop rock hybrid and latest release, so what better time than now to start talking about one of my favorite current bands?

ChrisSeptember 12, 20231 Comment

Vinyl

The Rationals: The Rationals (1970)

Sometimes you take a chance. It’s not quite like the old days when you would stroll through a record store and something would catch your eye: a name, some art. But it’s close, and as I was flipping through the Record Store Drop releases at my local shop I saw the reissue of the sole record from Ann Arbor’s The Rationals. The hype sticker drew me in as much as the colors on the album art: you put the words “Detroit R&B Garage Band” on your sticker and you’re going to hook me. I’m glad it did because it turns out The Rationals delivers precisely on the sticker’s promise: down and dirty rhythm and blues that has a foot firmly in the 60s while calling out to the more rock-centric power the 70s would deliver.

ChrisJune 25, 2022Leave a comment

Consuming the Tangible

We are what we consume

Tag: garage rock

Les Rallizes Dénudés: ’77 Live (1991)

Freckle: Freckle (2025)

Wand: Vertigo (2024)

Ty Segall: Three Bells (2024)

Osees: Intercepted Message (2023)

The Rationals: The Rationals (1970)