Four years ago I mentioned the Night Beats, the same band who put out this single on Trouble in Mind. Damn if I forgot about their super psych out sound and on this split Resurrection Records introduced me to another mind bender, TRMRS out of Costa Mesa, CA. It’s a perfect pairing and highlights some of the subtle differences in their take on modern psych.
On the A-Side Night Beats "Messiah" opens on a ringtone feedback peaking over springy reverb. The echo is massive creating that illusion of distance, playing the kind of strums that suddenly appear and take all day to wander off, drunkenly stumbling the whole way. The beat is equal molasses with Lee on vocals in his late '70s stoner drawl. The chorus elevates to a higher echo plane and the vocals disappear in a wave of doubled up drums and that peaking trip. Just when you were mellowing out next to this fire that tree trunk broke and a shower of sparks flew into the air scaring the shit out of you. There’s a warbling organ under this track and a solo wanders out of this haze breaking into pieces and howling without slowing down or wandering. Heavy stuff simultaneously managing layers of distorted power and slowed down cool. The cables crackle and the beat that’s always been off on the horizon is now silent. If you made it this far you're going to be ok man, just focus on the sound of that needle spinning, it’s over.
TRMRS on B-Side’s "Good Time Blues" uses that heavy leslie rotated reverb here which might give away their more experimental direction, letting this density find it’s surprising way. The vocals seem to rise from the back of this room. Guitar heavy you barely hear a low thud kick strike from under the boosted low end pillows. High plains jangle and black beat turtlenecks wrangling the psych, like the Super Vacations or Radar Eyes at half speed with vocals trapped behind some kind of tempered glass. A pause for countdown sticks that burst into the heavy stuff that sounds like the Make Up. They’re enjoying a sloppy thigh slapping hoot of a tempo with falsetto vocals taking control of the hazy situation in bursts. An attempt to tame this fog, to even blow it around into one place is a real exercise in futility. They turn to a serious punk psych sound before switching this rhythm once again like they’re trying to prove that they aren't messed up enough to do this. A tie dye curtain medley making some kind of special sense.
Pick this up from Resurrected Records.
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