Words by Jonathan Stout
When not doing freelance writing, Jonathan Stout is heavily involved in the NKY and Cincinnati music scenes as the Marketing Manager for Kentucky based venue The Southgate House Revival and founder of DIY Recording label Lo Fi City Recordings. He’s also an active musician, performing and recording with Sleepy Drums, Mutt Fuzz, Burnt Cabins and gewgaw.
Him Horrison is the solo project of Deedee, vocalist of cyber punk upstarts, MSPAINT. Their debut album Starting Not To Hurt is a collection of synth-tinged psych pop that’s as immersive as it is emotional. Even though songs like opener “Crystalized” feel sweeping and cinematic, the album was recorded by Deedee at their home in Hattiesburg, Mississippi on a Tascam digital 8-track, then further produced and mixed by MSPAINT synth mastermind Nick Panella, and finally mastered by Mathew Thomasi. The result is a collection of recordings that sound both intimate and professional. Dipping their feet into many far out genres here, Deedee experiments with Brian Jonestown Massacre style cosmic country (“Tell A Lie”), synth wave (“Fire In Your Head”), Sea Change-like balladry (“Just Stay”) and more. The transformative collection of otherworldly music blends fluidly and merges sci-fi soundscapes with psychedelic folk into a new and exciting direction for this artist.
Glasgow based space rock titans The Cosmic Dead are returning on April 17 with their new album, Beyond The Beyond (Heavy Psych Sounds) featuring 4 long playing jammers. Recorded at Dystopia Recording Studio in Glasgow, Beyond The Beyond features the riff rolling rhythm section of Tommy Duffin on drums and Omar Aborida on bass guitar alongside soaring fiddle acrobatics from Calum Calderwood and electronic textural bleeps and bloops from Luigi Pasquini on synthesizers. The resulting recordings span the modern psych spectrum – from slow burning intros, to driving Kraut rock rhythms, spacey atmospheric synths, mysterious desert rock nuances and more. Beyond The Beyond is an immersive trip, filled with shifting sonic textures, gritty heft and a spirited appreciation of experimentation. Much like the exploratory visions of proto-psych rockers GONG as if filtered through a contemporary lens crafted by King Gizz and Acid Mother’s Temple – these compositions may have some sonic resemblances to these peers, but it’s clear that The Cosmic Dead are banging heads to the beat of their own drum. There’s something spiritual moving and motivating these numbers – whether it’s the free feeling of improvisation or the infectious chemistry of these musicians, but there’s a lot to appreciate and return to here.
When The Presidents of the United States of America officially broke up in 2016, lead singer Chris Ballew went on to make an astonishingly fitting and successful foray into the world of children’s music as Caspar Babypants. After 13 years and 19 albums, Ballew decided to retire the Babypants moniker in 2021 and has been releasing delightfully satisfying indie psych-pop under his own name ever since. His newest release, Starting to Get Light, further solidifies Ballew’s new direction with confidence and clarity. Album opener and title track “Starting to Get Light” automatically embraces the listener with a warm groove and kicks the collection of songs off with reassuring conviction. The upbeat and catchy “Problem Solution” grabs the torch and runs with it, mixing soaring vintage synths, reverb soaked vocals and a pulsing beat. Throughout the release it’s clear that Ballew is enjoying himself and really pushing into realms unexplored by his previous projects. His new work is perhaps the ultimate culmination of his previous work – containing elements of each but applying them with new focus. Although songs like “Let’s Get Ready to Crumble” examine the shared fear and existential dread that many of us share nowadays, the music retains an upbeat vibe that captures everything this new project of Ballew’s does well – skewing soft melancholy with a prevailing sense of optimism.
Blackwater Holylight’s new offering, Not Here Not Gone (Suicide Squeeze) contains some of the most focused, riffy and hook laden material of their career. The songs of Not Here Not Gone immediately grab the listener and envelop them in a dark melancholic shroud. But is it a bummer? Hell no! This album rips from start to finish and should be played as loud as possible. But does it DOOM? Well… the band prefers more shoegaze tendencies than black metal tendencies nowadays, but this is not to say that this is not still heavy music. Not only are these compositions steered by face searing riffs (“Spades”) Allison “Sunny” Faris’ mournful vocal melodies provide palpable emotional heft as well. However, the band merely use their heavy roots as a jumping off point – reaching to skillfully incorporate spacey indie rock, driving desert rock and moody post rock to their expanding sonic palette. All in all, Not Here Not Gone is the sound of a band that keeps on getting better and better – stretching out and honing their own unique niche without losing their edge. There’s enough mystery, excitement, melody and low key drama here to warrant multiple stimulating listens.