I first stumbled upon Psychlona at Las Vegas’ Psycho Music Festival a couple years ago when they were playing on a small stage inside the Mandalay Bay Casino. This quartet from Bradford, UK put down some of the best desert / stoner rock my late wife and I heard all weekend.
They continued the trend on their 2022 album, Palo Verde. Starting with the appropriately titled “Gasoline,” the album blazes fire right out of the gate with roaring guitars and hammering drums best-suited for slamming the accelerator of your muscle car to the floor. “1975” chugs as hard as any psych or heavy rock record you’ll hear from that decade, with outstanding guitar work throughout it. The guitar solo on “Rainbird” makes you stop in your tracks.
It’s only fitting that the doomiest track on the record is titled “Meet Your Devil.” The bass riffs on it are as menacing as Cerberus’ triple-growl. The addition of keyboards / organ on “Purple River” is a great touch and shows how Psychlona can fully embrace psychedelic rock whenever they want.
“Jetplane” has this slight punk edge to it that I love. It’s the chugging, relentless guitar riffs and surf rock-tinged guitar solo in it. “La Tolvanera” (“The Dust Cloud”) drifts one moment and then sand-blasts your face and eardrums the next. “Are you ready to blow?” they ask on “Warped?” Blow what, exactly? Weed? “Blow this place?” This reality? All three? I mean they offer to “Take you outta your mind, outta your head.”, and the powerful riffs only help knock you into another mind-state for a good seven minutes.
Get on this trip. You won’t regret it.
Keep your mind open.
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