Maybe you're feeling it? It's like the opposite of a disturbance in The Force: the mesmerizing infinity vibes of Interstellar Car Crash, the new EP from Boston-based quintet Magic Shoppe. The short stack's four tracks bristle with tambourine-bedazzled and dreamy, Rolling Stones-inspired grooves covered in rich and limitless reverbs and guitar effects. At times, the songwriting brings to mind The Brian Jonestown Massacre at Their drugged and Satanic Majesties Requested-best, but the clarity of the performances and updated production outpaces much of BJM's more erratic moments. EP opener "Salventius" interrupts itself after a minute-and-a-half with delightfully warped shoegaze chords, while lead preview track "City Alight" grooves on a sultry guitar line (check out the video for the stirring tune right here). The highlight of the EP is the title track closer, which takes a handful of mid-tempo chords and rides along a drugged and autumnal crest. It's like the first rays of sunshine, an epiphany arriving through the blinds with the morning after a life-changing bender, the taste of too many cigarettes and the worn smell of a leather jacket meaningfully lingering.
Toronto's Optical Sounds releases Interstellar Car Crash as a digital download and white 10" vinyl disc Friday, and Magic Shoppe celebrates accordingly Saturday at Great Scott in Allston Rock City, with support coming from Zip Tie Handcuffs, Bong Wish and S.S. Cretins. Full details for the evening are right here; there are additional release shows in Philadelphia tomorrow at Kung Fu Necktie and Brooklyn Thursday at Palisades. Stream the aforementioned "City Alight," as well as tracks from the supporting acts, via the embeds below. Click here to buy Interstellar Car Crash either as a tangible flat thing or a virtual packet of ones and zeroes. Magic Shoppe first formed in Boston in 2010 and was mothballed for a time before re-constituting itself in 2014, but has still produced an estimable catalogue. The band has an LP, two otherEPs and at least one comp appearance under its belt to date. -- Edward Charlton
>> Editor's Note:We're not dead, we're just extremely sleepy, as the coroner once said of Alan Stanwyck.
>> We first encountered Massachusetts’ superb psych-rock concern The Prefab Messiahs when they played The Lilypad with (who else?) Lilysback in 2013. While new to the publication then, the group's origins lie in the early 1980s, an era that for regional indie rock fans is synonymous with the truncated initial reign of legends Mission Of Burma. However, post-punk was only a slice of what the Bay State was cooking back then. The gentlemen behind The Prefab Messiahs reinvigorated their mojo in the past decade via a wealth of “DIY garage-pop-psych provocation.” This work, and the rubbing of shoulders with other garage-revival figureheads at the time of the quartet's 30th anniversary, has precipitated the imminent release of a new maxi-EP titled, awesomely, Keep Your Stupid Dreams Alive. Coming out as a co-release on KLYAM and Burger on virtually every format but DataPlay (so 10" vinyl via KLYAM, cassette via Burger, and CDs and digital downloads, too), the whole eight-song shebang is the band's first new release in 32 years, and it hits racks on March 10. Burger makes a lot of sense for The Prefab Messiahs, as many of the respected label's lo-fi, neon, classicist power-pop acts indeed sound like the grandchildren of psych-pop’s first revival that occurred around the time that the ‘Fabs four-med.
Your first look at and listen to Keep Your Stupid Dreams Alive comes via the overloaded, animated dose of a video for "Weirdoz Everywhere" posted above (longtime fans will also remember it was part of that aforementioned live set at The Lilypad). The EP kicks off with the tune "Ssydarthurr" which not only (re-)introduces the act’s freakbeat influences and straightforward tones, but also its low-key sense of humor, something that separates these gentlemen from many of their stone-faced peers. And that element, ultimately, is what so many adherents miss about the spirit of '67 at the acid gallery. Take Syd Barrett: for all of his pioneering sounds, he was not above the silly, sidelong lyric. The Prefabs' "College Radio" commences with some menacing staccato guitar work and slapdash backing vocals and echo effects, all the while cheekily celebrating left-of-the-dial culture with a supernatural twist. The title track (and EP highlight) rides a steady, mid-period Rolling Stones rhythm and a simple, soaring harmony throughout a delightfully wistful and catchy chorus. The stark march of "Keep Your Stupid Dreams Alive" builds in the bridge to a chaotic ending, marking the tune as both an economical and flippant piece of pop gold. Keep an eye on the KLYAM digital storefront and the Burger web dojo for pre-order info for Keep Your Stupid Dreams Alive, which incidentally was engineered by sometimes-Lilys Doug Tuttle and Jesse Gallagher. -- Edward Charlton
>> We were excited to see another publication spill some ink for Atlanta art-rock quartet Red Sea and its terrific release In The Salon, which we wrote about here last year. The mini-album is seeing its first physical release in the form of a cassette from Bayonet Records, a new label co-run by Beach Fossils' Dustin Payseur and Katie Garcia (Ms. Garcia, if you don't know, was previously the label manager for Captured Tracks). And, boy, are we equally excited for Bayonet. Not only do the couple have the good sense and taste to release Salon, but they have introduced this reviewer to Red Sea scene mates Warehouse, as well. Presenting a scrappier, exuberant take on Red Sea's weirdo jazzy grooves, the latter band are now also firmly on our radar after just one listen to sophisti-punk lead single "Promethean Gaze." There, brilliant chord patterns, and Elaine Edenfield's Kim Gordon-esque vocals (which hit sarcastic low notes in a singular style that also recalls Red Sea) completely overwhelm. Both In The Salon and Warehouse's Tesseract are out later in March. Keep an eye on the Bayonet site for the launch of the online store and grab these fast, they'll likely move fast once the progressive indie movement takes over the country by storm [That's gonna happen, right? -- Ed.]. -- Edward Charlton
>> Boston DIY shoegazer R.M. Hendrix appears to be gearing up for a new record, and the proof is two wonderful demos he posted to Soundcloud recently. The first, a dark, hazy strummer titled "Half-Mast In Golden Light," takes you into its confidence via bending guitar chords, which drift between hard-panned drums as Mr. Hendrix looses a dreamy verse over top. Shortly after the song crosses the minute mark, spectral synth spreads over top the persistent strumming, pauses for a delightful, crumbling lead guitar interlude, and then returns. The tune is so strong in its demo form that we can't imagine it being improved upon, but we are always pleased when we're wrong about that sort of thing. The second demo, "Wolf On The Edges," is similarly arranged; it pursues a pulsing rhythm and gradually builds upwards from Axel Wilner-esque minimalism, employing soft, inevitable chord changes to achieve a tense, buzzing crescendo once Hendrix's subdued vocals give way. Any new collection would be Hendrix's first since Urban Turks Country Jerks, which was issued by Dallas-based Moon Sounds Records in April 2014; we wrote about that right here. Senior Writer Edward Charlton initiated our coverage of R.M. Hendrix right here in 2012, around the time of the release of Hendrix's Pink Skin EP. Stream "Half-Mast In Golden Light" and "Wolf On The Edges" via the Soundcloud embeds below.
[Photo: D. Riley] "God, I wish someone had told me parking in Inman Square is practically nonexistent," I shouted over the new My Bloody Valentine album as I rounded Cambridge St. for what felt like the tenth time. After a few misguided parallel attempts and a Costanza moment with my buddy, I struck vehicle stowage gold and booked it over to The Lilypad. Not an auspicious start, I thought, but I was seeing Lilys: this was going to be a good night, parking be damned.
Openers The Prefab Messiahs, in all their psych-pop glory, were just finishing up sound check as we walked in. They soon took the stage (read: designated end of the room) and delivered a tight, generously lengthy opening set. The act was a working psych-rock concern in the early '80s and are recently reunited. The formerly Worcester-based Prefab Messiahs remarked from the stage that they'd been busy recording new music with some current Lilys members helming the sessions in Boston. Despite having little knowledge of their music, I was drawn to their goofy charm. They were clearly a group of dudes who didn't take themselves seriously then or now, what with their self-referencing songs about psychedelic cars and orange rooms. Oh, and props to their outfits too, especially the lead guitarist's McDonald's manager-worthy polo shirt.
After a barely audible introduction -- somewhat unusual given chief Lily Kurt Heasley's characteristic fantastical logorrhea -- the current iteration of Lilys launched into its towering shoegaze classic "Claire Hates Me," and it killed. Thereafter was a brief yet satisfying (and quite loud) set that showcased the band's dizzying range. Crunchy noise rock cuts abutted '60s-inspired psych nuggets and trance-y motorik grooves. What initially struck me about their set though was the band's set-up. While shoegaze guitarists are typically surrounded by a vast array of guitar pedals, here was Heasley nailing the dense tones of his storied discography armed with nothing more than a fuzz pedal. Instead Lilys erected their wall of sound with keyboards and dueling guitars cooking up plenty of noise, coating the tiny confines of The Lilypad with layer upon layer of beautiful distortion. It was a fitting end to close the show with the undeniable and heavy "February Fourteenth" -- just as the band had done Tuesday night for its appearance at the Chickfactor 21 festival -- not only because it tested the structural integrity of the venue, but also because it reminded the assembled fans of the the Lilys' singular, circuitous sonic progression these past 22 years. "Have a beautiful evening," Heasley mumbled before disappearing behind the stage. After a traditional post-show burrito, I could safely say I did. -- Dillon Riley
