by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
With two new albums released last year (March’s Gloves To Grand Air and October’s Freedom of Failure), Philadelphia’s Psychic Flowers keep pushing forward. Led by David Settle (Big Heet, The Fragiles, Ex-Breathers), the band have been continuously upping the ante with each album and they continue to do so on the upcoming For The Undertow. Due out July 30th via Living Lost Records and RIP Records, the record was recorded by Settle with Leo Suarez on drums and mixed and mastered by Justin Pizzoferatto (Dinosaur Jr, Krill, Halfsour) once again. The sound is big and overdriven, blasting power-pop melodies with an enormous wall of fuzz and distorted crunch. It’s everything that Psychic Flower’s catalog has been building toward and for the first time, it will be pressed to vinyl (expected in September) to really get your speakers rattling.
“Coming To Collect” is the album’s opener and a great sign of what’s to come. It starts with a burst of feedback just before it jangles into the monstrous pop song it really is. The guitars sound absolutely huge, a credit to everyone involved in the recording process, and the drums and vocal melodies cut through the red with perfection, a density that is matched only by the song’s radiant breeziness. If you like your pop thick and fuzzy, Psychic Flowers are doing it at a veteran level, packing as much melodic heft as you can in under two minutes time. It’s big time ROCK and it’s going to be stuck in your head for a while, thanks to the guitar lines and Settle’s anthemic hooks.