Tag: Highlands

Psycho Las Vegas 2021 recap: Day Two

We started off the second day of the Las Vegas Psycho Music Festival with what would become our morning ritual over the next three days – lounging by the Luxor Casino Hotel’s pool in the dry heat after picking up a breakfast sandwich at one of the somewhat-overpriced restaurants in the hotel. We’d relax for a couple hours, wash off the sweat, and then go see some bands. It was a great way to save money because we had little time to spend at the gambling tables and slot machines.

Our musical entertainment began with Foie Gras and her industrial-goth set at the Mandalay Bay House of Blues venue. She put on a good set to an early crowd, and my wife loved her combination of a T-shirt and flamenco dancer sleeves.

Foie Gras with her rockin’ sleeves and blood-painted knees.

Up next was something completely different – a set by Deathchant, who I can probably best describe as sounding like a fuzzier Thin Lizzy. The played the “Rock & Rhythm Lounge,” which is in near multiple restaurants in the casino, so you can get your eardrums blasted while enjoying your expensive wine and French cuisine – or while shoving money into video slot machines. Deathchant were loud and rough and a wild afternoon wakeup call.

Deathchant playing like every song was their finale.

We took a five-hour break, more than enough time to get a nap and dinner before coming back to the Lounge to see British stoner metal quartet Psychlona. It was their first gig win Las Vegas and only their second show of their U.S. tour. “We are so fucking stoked,” their lead singer said, and they certainly played like it. Afterward, their singer told me their set was better than the one they’d just played in San Diego the previous night.

Psycholona – stoked to be there.

Shoegaze quartet Highlands were up next and brought a welcome change of sound to the Lounge and the festival in general. I’m a big shoegaze fan, and they didn’t disappoint. There was a nice, reverb-laden wall of sound coming from the stage for their whole set.

Highlands bring the fuzz.

We then zipped across the casino and back to the House of Blues to see one of my most anticipated sets of the festival – a Bossa nova set from Claude Fontaine. The set was lightly attended, and I couldn’t help but think many were there from a previous metal set or waiting for the next metal band to play after her. The crowd wasn’t sure what to make of her at first, as they’d been so used to metal that a soft set of Bossa nova tracks with dub influences seemed alien to them. Ms. Fontaine put on the loveliest set of the festival (her first time playing in Las Vegas) and the small crowd did come around to appreciating the hypnotizing, alluring music she gave.

Claude Fontaine making all of us swoon.

Our night ended at the Mandalay Beach stage, which sits opposite a man-made beach on a wave pool, where we saw Ty Segall and his band shred the place with their loud psychedelia – their first gig in two years. Segall’s wife even sang lead on one track. They sounded great, and the volume of the band was amplified not only by electronics, but also the water bouncing it all over the place.

Ty Segall and his crew partying at the beach.

It was our busiest day of the festival for bands – six in one day – but there were plenty more to come.

Up next, more shoegaze at the Lounge and three arena shows ranging from dub to goth metal.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Highlands – Wish You Were

The title of the third album by Long Beach, California shoegazers Highlands is intriguing – Wish You Were. There’s no ellipses or question mark or any other punctuation at the end of it, but it feels like a statement. It’s not “Wish You Were Here” or “Wish You Were Gone.” It’s Wish You Were. Were what, you ask? I like to think the answer to that question is, “Present,” but I have a feeling from some of the themes on this album that the answer refers to existence (“I wish you were real.”).

The first lyric to the opening track, “Dr. Ron,” is “Just who we are, no one has an idea.” Scott Holmes and J.P. Bendzinski‘s guitars criss-cross over each other like ripples on a pond from two different stones and Beau Balek‘s bass adds a slight bubbling menace while Justin Ivey‘s drum beat sounds simple but hides multiple layers within the track. If you think “Routine Dream” sounds like My Bloody Valentine, you’re probably right. MBV’s influence on the band is obvious from the opening powerful, echoing guitar chords (and dig that cool reverb!).

The vocals on “Flew Away” are barely perceptible at times, but still effective as they mix with guitar chords that remind one of sun bouncing off your sunglasses. The lyrics, as best as I can understand them, seem to sing of regret (“It’s too late.”) and accepting that you have to move on after people depart from your life (and sometimes their own). “Dizzy ’84” has some spaghetti western guitar touches that I love.

“You Have to Wait” brings in a little krautrock and electro flavor as it soars around the room. The guitars and bass on “Staring Away” sound like a ghost train rolling along abandoned tracks. Don’t worry about Ivey’s drums being left behind, because they’re in front on “Wilmore Town.” He and Balek drive the track while Holmes sings about taking things as they come and just being there – especially as we approach the end. The album is full of this sort of existential curiosity. It’s not quite dread, but the idea of facing death is certainly a theme running throughout the record, as is the realization that our actions can and do affect people we may never know…and we have to be ready to deal with those effects when they return to us.

Take, as another example, “Careful What You Wish.” It gleams as much as the southern California sun on the ocean at sunset, but the vocals (and the title) hide sage advice about desiring an imagined future instead of embracing what’s in front of you. The guitar solo on it in the biggest on the album. I don’t know if it’s Holmes or Bendzinski playing it, but it’s superb. “Unknown Moderation” brings in Cure-like bass and texture. The closer is “Cosmic Sigh,” with Balek’s bass paying tribute to Peter Hook and the rest of the band waxing the Silver Surfer’s board alongside him. The title can refer to a lot of things, but my guess is Highlands uses it to describe a moment of enlightenment when we realize how connected we are to everything.

This is a solid shoegaze record that will be much appreciated by fans of the genre. It brings you into the presence with its mesmerizing beats and hooks and reminds us to just be.

Keep your mind open.

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