Del Black Aloha
by The Vandelles

The Vandelles' sound combines elements of psych rock, surf rock, shoegaze, and even dashes of pop and metal. The unifying element is love of the entire breadth of sounds which an electric guitar can be coaxed into making. Distortion, effects and layered guitars dominate their sound. Some songs are almost lyric-free, in the style of classic surf-rock tracks, while most others apply heavy reverb and push the lyrics back in the mix. The rhythm section is there, but only occasionally does it draw attention to itself. Then again, there is an unusual amount of tambourine for a rock album, and on occasion the drums are right up front with the guitars. Let's just say that The Vandelles definitely have an identifiable style, but their music is not as limited as this might suggest, because they can bring different aspects of that style to bear on different songs...

The First One
by Baby Shakes

The Baby Shakes have a musical style which will really take you back.The lyrics on their first album, called The First One (by them, not I), distinctly suggest a 50's or 60's girl group. The music and vocal style suggest at times 50's pop, 60's garage-rock and 70's proto-punk, but with consistently faster tempos. The end result is something like a fusion of the Go-Gos or Cheap Trick with the rock-n-roll sounds of old. Or perhaps like a Nikki and the Corvettes 45 played an RPM or two faster...

The Return of The Above

Local 60s-style garage-rockers The Above have had a rough year so far. Several band members left the group soon after they finished recording their debut album. The album was then repeatedly delayed as the remaining members tried to reform the band...

February 2009 New Album Update
New and upcoming releases

Motorcycle Boy have released a newly-remastered LP with nine bonus tracks including previously unreleased material. French artists One Switch To Collision released their debut album "Korrect!!!", but do not currently have U.S. distribution. The Points have released a self-titled LP. Columbus, Ohio's Guinea Worms have a new 7" single out on Savage Records and the Golden Boys from Austin, Texas have released their new album "Goodbye Country"...

Prince Ruperts Drops (aka The Frams aka The Woods)
Spin Yourself Into The Bliss...

by Rebecca Campbell

Smoke Signals
by Heavy Hands

Brooklyn rockers Heavy Hands play a style of psych-rock which is more aggressive than the typical shoegaze music which is so prevalent in modern psychedelia. A combination of small band size (just three members), a love of 70's hard rock sounds, and powerful drum work combine to form an unusually heavy but well-defined sound. It's psych-rock influenced by the likes of Black Sabbath, Iron Butterfly and Kyuss...