I do not think I have to prove my love to the band The Asteroid #4. Their wild, unique blend of psychedelic country-folk freak-out is one that is well worth the investigation. Two records as of late most definitely make the case of The Asteroid #4's greatness.
The first record is a digital-only release, B-Sides and Singles 1997-2007. I don't know exactly what singles they released, or what era each song is, but I really don't care. You'll find it all here: noisy shoegaze ("90 Colors"), mellow Syd Barrett-esque folk ("Tinkerbell Meets Reality"), gorgeous dreampop ("Car Thief Millenia"), and country swagger ("Lady"). There's a lot to be found here--well over an hour and a half of music--and it might be a bit much for one sitting. But if you put it on random and let it skip around, you'll hardly find anything that's a disappointment.
Listen To: "Lady"
Listen To: "Car Thief Millenia"
Much more concise is These Flowers of Ours. It is the work of a mature psych-rock band; none of that superfluous crap that litters bands that try to be "psych"--no posturing, no posing, no phony irony, either. This is the real deal, and it's obvious from the opening "My Love"--no, not the Paul McCartney classic, but I'm sure they'd do an excellent job of covering it! The next ten songs range from ballads to rockers to what could provisionally be called "bootgaze"--yes, a wonderful mix of shoegaze and Byrds-style country-rock! There's heaviness and there's tenderness, and all of it sounds really, really good. Few American "psych-rock" bands are this good, and they got this way by practice and experience.
Listen To: "My Love"
Listen To: "Let It Go"Labels: Reivews A, The Asteroid Number Four, The Committee to Keep Music Evil |
