New Releases - 29/05/2018

​Never before have we laid on such a heavy helping of psych! This week’s mother lode arrives courtesy of Halo Maud, Wooden Shjips, Goat and the Oh Sees. But equally important come four exceptional numbers from VOIID, Mezko, Sudan Archives and Ari Roar. 

VOIID – NOT FOR YOU (INDEPENDENT)

With cutting lyrics and a fistful of chords ‘Not for You’ bristles with punk defiance.
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OH SEES – OVERTHROWN (CASTLE FACE)

Have the artists formerly known as Thee Oh Sees ever rocked this heavy? Caustic volleys of garage punk-prog splinter forth as vocals thrash thick and heavy. Fuzzed to all oblivion. 
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WOODEN SHJIPS – ECLIPSE (THRILL JOCKEY)

These Portlandians have just unleashed new LP V.. Heavy riffs, hypno grooves, and a general flair for the psychedelic decorate this album. Opener 'Eclipse' could be no truer example.  
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GOAT – LET IT BURN (ROCKET RECORDINGS)

The mysterious Goat collective have just dropped a new 7”. 'Let It Burn’ rings out with searing aggression and vocals belted with tribal heart. Stygian folk-psych bliss.  
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HALO MAUD - SURPRISE (HEAVENLY/PIAS)

For those unfamiliar Maud Nadal is a Parisian artist best known for her work in Melody’s Echo Chamber. It turns out that Maud’s been working on some formidable recordings of her own. ‘Surprise’ comes from Nadal’s debut album Je Suis Une île'. Here French pop inclinations fall backward into fantasial flashes of neo psychedelic bliss.  
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SUDAN ARCHIVES – ESCAPE (STONES THROW/INERTIA)

Wasn’t too sure about the new Sink EP so asked a friend never known for faking the funk. They suggested there were two standouts. The first was ‘Nont For Sale’. And second? ‘Escape’. All said their closing remarks were that Sink was ‘all-round great’. After Delving deeper into Sudan’s wedding of R&B vocals, avant production and touches of traditional instrumentation it’s difficult to disagree.
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MEZKO -WITHOUT YOU (DINOSAUR CITY)

Samplers like Dinosaur City’s DCR MIXTAPE #3 are a rare beast indeed in this day and age. But when they do arrive they're a welcome pleasure none-the-less. ‘Without You’ captures Mezko at their kosmic best. There’ a definite Krautrock influence which surfaces every now again on this duo’s silken electro cuts but here it's all the more alluring.   
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ARI ROAR – OFF AND ON (BELLA UNION/INERTIA)

Caleb Campbell melds retrograde pop to contemplative strands of thought. ‘Off and On’ is no lead single nor landmark moment. Just a simple exercise of masterful understatement. 

Words by Riley Fitzgerald