[Rewind Reviews are reviews of albums that are over a year old by the time I hear them.]
Strange Lot’s debut EP, Walk of the Sun, is a portent of great things to come. Made when the band was a two-piece with Dominic Mena on bass, guitar, and vocals and Tim Lormor on drums, all four tracks are excellent psych-fuzz.
“Upside Dwners” starts like trippy mellow stuff you’d hum around a hippie campfire, but it soon bursts into glorious shimmering power pop (but with heavily reverbed vocals). “Stompr” is appropriately named because Lormor stomps out a killer beat on it while Mena gets weird and bluesy with his guitar licks. “Fiction” sounds a bit like early (as in Mongoloid Years) Devo cuts – sizzling rock drums backing distorted guitars and wild vocals. The title track is a full blast of psychedelia that needs blared from the speakers of your Vanagon.
I’m glad these guys released a full-length album (Another Mind) after this, because to not follow-up on such a good record would’ve been a travesty.
I discovered Phoenix, Arizona’s psych outfit Strange Lot (Dominic Mena – guitars and vocals, Tim Lormor – drums, David Dennis – bass ) when I attended the 2016 MR Fest in San Marcos, Texas. Their set was one of best I saw there.
Their first full-length album, Another Mind, is solid. They open big with “Into the Night.” The guitars bounce off each other like they’re in a mosh pit, and the vocals are layered in reverb to the point where they’re almost indecipherable. “The Horror” dives headfirst into trippy psych. “Wasted Fields” has wild, weird, and fascinating guitar work from Mena. “Supremium” might be an obscure reference to Marvel Comics’ version of kryptonite, but I think it’s probably about allowing your mind to open to a cosmic experience. Lormor’s drums almost sound drunk, Dennis seems to be playing a freestyle jazz tune on his bass, and Mena’s guitars float around like he’s in zero gravity. Trust me, it all works.
“Stone” bridges the gap between psych and shoegaze, while “Right with your Pain” is a raucous rocker. “Call My Name” is so full of fuzz that Ty Segall probably wishes he’d recorded it. After a brief instrumental break (“Sandwich”), “Erthquake” roars in like its namesake. Lormor and Dennis try to shake you to the ground and Mena tries to lift you from the chasm with excellent, soaring guitar work. The title track is the last one. It’s like something you’d find on an obscure early 1980’s goth rock compilation with its mournful vocals and lyrics, down-tuned guitars, and strangely peppy keyboards.
I like these guys. They’re doing odd stuff, loud stuff, psych stuff, and shoegaze stuff and it all works for them. It is a strange lot they’ve mixed, but a good one.
Keep your mind open.
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What do you do when you fly from Indiana for Levitation Austinand it gets cancelled due to bad weather? You go to another music festival in San Marcos not even thirty miles away.
The Levitation coordinators and Travis County Emergency Services were putting out photos of the damaged festival site at Carson Creek Ranch by the time Saturday morning rolled around.
You can’t levitate when you’re stuck in mud.
That’s just one photo. Others showed vendor tents wrapped around trees. You can see collapsed tents in the background. The camping area was underwater. There would’ve been many injuries and perhaps worse if campers had been there during the storm.
We got a nice breakfast, my wife got a manicure and pedicure, and we were off to San Marcos for MR Fest. My Radio Fest (AKA MR Fest) is put on each year by Texas State University radio – KTSW. It’s an indie rock festival taking place over one day and two nights in eight different venues in downtown San Marcos. The best part? All the shows are free. They were actively Tweeting for people devastated by the loss of Levitation to come down for it. I was sold once I learned Night Beats were playing Saturday night for free.
We got into town around 2:00pm and happened to park next door to Superfly’s – a wrecka stow that was also one of the eight venues. We walked in and saw a three-piece rock band called Sloe Your Rollwho were putting on a good set of blues jam-rock.
Sloe Your Roll
We then wandered down to a nice underground bar called Kiva and saw a Hum-like three-piece called Sidechick. “They could play Levitation,” my wife said. She’s right. They have a solid sound that mixes shoegaze with hard rock.
Sidechick
Strange Lotplayed right after them. They were a mix of psych and stoner rock and so good I picked up their two CD’s after their set.
Strange Lot
We got a snack and then came back to see a partial set from Jumping Moons, who were a heavy two-piece that played to the back wall.
Jumping Moons
We then headed across the street to Stonewall – a local gay bar that was hosting four different bands that night. The first we saw was The Real Hands, who played a set of mellow rock and a lot of songs about relationships. Another fun part about the Stonewall shows was that KTSW was giving away hundreds of CD’s from their archives. I snagged a copy of Bob Mould‘s Life and Times.
The Real Hands
Up next were Dayluta Means Kindness, who were the loudest band we’d seen so far. They played a great set of instrumental heavy shoegaze / drone rock. I need to find their material.
Dayluta Means Kindness
We went to dinner at a local brew pub and realized the place was packed due to the NBA playoff game between the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder starting about the time our food arrived. The pub was full of Spurs fans (as San Antonio is about 40 miles from San Marcos), so we joined in on the fun for the first quarter and then left to see the last half of the set by Mr. Lewis and the Funeral 5 (even though there are only four of them) – who play blues rock with a gothic twinge.
Mr. Lewis and the Funeral 5
We walked across the town square to The Marc – a nice concert hall venue – to see Golden Gravesopen for The Night Beats. Golden Graves played to a welcoming crowd who liked their alt-rock style. You could tell they were having a good time, and that energy transferred to the crowd.
Golden Graves
The Night Beatscame out and put down another killer set. They had some issues with the Marc sound crew not getting stuff right in their monitors, but they soldiered through the difficulties and wowed the crowd by the end. It was their first time playing in San Marcos and they won many fans that night. They are gunslingers on stage, and the crowd knew it. “My face is melting!” yelled one college lad.
The Night Beats
That was about the time I realized my wife and I were among the oldest people in the crowd. Truth to tell, I’ll still be going to shows like this thirty years from now.
We left tired but happy. It was a fun day that took us somewhere unexpected. Plus, we got to see the Night Beats twice in three nights – and once for free. I’d also scored tickets to a Sunday Levitation makeup show featuring Golden Dawn Arkestra – who was high on my list for the festival. Sunday was looking good.
Next: Double sitar and tabla, killer BBQ, electric shocks, the Karate Kid, and Ra worship.
