21 Nov 2012

The Reverb Conspiracy Volume One - Review


Fuzz Club Vinyl 

Released to help celebrate the first Reverb Conspiracy psychedelic festival, this could very easily have been one of those dodgy festival samplers that quickly become beer coasters, or could even have found it's way into the wardrobe with that ill-fitting and grossly overpriced concert T-Shirt that seemed like a good idea at the time but in reality has questionable value as anything other than a memento.
It's a testament to the quality of the acts involved then, and to the organizers of the festival and the compilers of this LP that this stands up as well as it does as a listening experience in it's own right.
As a sampler of what the dark underbelly of the current psychedelic scene has to offer, this is pretty much unbeatable.
The potential was certainly there for this to be repetitive and one-dimensional, but the acts on here show a surprising range, whilst still retaining a unified approach that groups the artists comfortably together without restricting their creative drives.
The staples of dark modern psychedelia are very much in evidence here ; drones, reverbed guitars, heavily treated garage vocals etc, but there's plenty of invention to be found too. The chiming postpunk of The Underground Youth's "I Need You" is an attention grabber with it's clattering percussion and a riff seemingly lifted straight off an early eighties Cure record.
Elsewhere bands like The Electric Koolaid Company incorporate plenty of vintage shoegaze into their sound, the Lucid Dream inject a healthy dose of punk into "Hits Me Like I'm Stoned", while Black Market Karma's "Weightless" sounds like the most terrifying sixties creation you've ever heard.
Best of all though is Get Your Gun's "Staying For a While" which skillfully combines the gravity of Jim Morrison at his most doomladen with the heightened drama of the best Triffids and Nick Cave material.
Recommended.

Buy the LP here.

Full tracklisting:
1. Black Market Karma (UK) - Weightless
2. A Victim Of Society (GR) - You're Gonna Hate Me
3. The Lucid Dream (UK) - Hits Me Like I'm Stoned
4. The Koolaid Electric Company (UK)- Dreams
5. The Orange Revival (SE) - Ever
6. The KVB (UK) - Never Enough
7. Radar Men From The Moon (NL) - Heading For The Void
8. Singapore Sling (IS) - Nothing Inside
9. Oscar Suave (UK) - No Direction
10. Dead Skeletons (IS) - Kundalini Eyes
11. Lola Colt (UK) - Diamonds
12. Sonic Jesus (IT) - Underground
13. The Underground Youth (UK) - I Need You
14. Black Lizard (FL) - Spirits
15. Wall Of Death (FR) - Thunder Sky
16. Get Your Gun (DK) - Staying For A While
17. The Third Sound (IS) - Re-Elevation
18. The Wands (DK) - Hello I Know The Blow You Grow Is Magic
19. Dead Rabbits (UK) - When I'm Blue

Sample a few tracks here :

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