Review: Psychlona ‘Warped Vision’
Bradford, UK’s Psychlona released one of my favorite albums in 2022, with Palo Verde. I was a newcomer to the band at the time, and thoroughly enjoyed their take on QOTSA-style desert rock, as they incorporated ‘90s garage rock sounds, and a fair amount of psychedelia, to their musical cauldron but all shot through a UK lens. So, in what seems like a fairly quick turnaround, or more accurately, I’ve lost all sense of time movement, Psychlona return with Warped Vision.
Boasting another wild, colorful album cover like Palo Verde, I was excited to see what direction founder, guitarist and vocalist Phil Hey would take Psychlona in. As well, this time around, the band went through some lineup changes, joining Hey, and drummer Scott Frankling are Martin Wiseman on guitar and Ian Buxton on bass, but with Hey piloting the ship, it was fair to assume that Psychlona, while always exploring new sounds, would still sound like Psychlona.
One of the first things I noticed during my initial spins of Warped Vision, the band’s approach this time was a lot trippier as they lean into their psychedelic side, so much so that they sound downright Floydian in places but that’s not to say the band is not still capable of full-on rock as both opener Jasmine and first video Lets Go attest to.
Jasmine proffers a driving beat, a riff-y rock and roll attack, plenty of QOTSA-esque guitar squeals and a fuzzed-up rumbling, bass, all balanced by Hey’s ever tasteful vocal delivery. Let’s Go is spacier but after some build-up, the band kick in with a fuzzy, melodic rocker, that, as was the case with tracks on Palo Verde, reminded me of a heavier version of UK ‘90s alt-rock like Ride.
Things start getting weird on Smoke wherein Psychlona unleash their inner Pink Floyd with a spaced-out, long-form build-up before Hey and Wiseman start riffing and finally hit the fuzz pedals as the song takes off to the moon with with a wicked desert rock breakdown. However, what really stood out about Smoke is just how similar to David Gilmour Hey sounds. It’s fucking uncanny actually. It helps when a band want to get their Pink Floyd on when their vocalist is able to sound exactly like Gilmour.
Psychlona balance their Pink Floyd vibes with doses of major rock and roll riffage…
Cut Loose, is a way-drenched, distorted, mid-tempo, fuzzy, yet melodic rocker, while Topanga, following an addicting, rumbling bass line, erupts into a crashing, rolling, riff-fest. Perhaps the heaviest track on Warped Vision it also features a few QOTSA-isms, but filtered through Hey’s own musical vision, as well as a fantastic, tripped-out breakdown during the outro.
Kaleidoscope sees the band deftly blending their Floydian impulses with some serious, chugging riffage, and all sorts of rock and roll shred. The penultimate Split sees Psychlona balance their Pink Floyd vibes with doses of major rock and roll riffage as the song is as dreamy, and spacey as a listener could want, and again Hey sounds eerily like David Gilmour on the trippier parts, before the massive riffs come crashing down.
Closer Magic Carpet sounds exactly like its title with a swinging jazz-y feel, but lest the listener thinks they can drift away riding the band’s psychedelic impulses, the huge riffs come crashing in like a sonic meteor falling from outer space. Psychlona drift between the spacey and the rocking before finally unleashing the slamming, fuzzed-out, shred-fest that serves as the track’s outro, bringing the record to an emphatic finish.
Not surpassingly, I dug the shit out of Warped Vision as Psychlona are one of the cooler bands I’ve stumbled upon the last few years while writing for The Sleeping Shaman, and certainly one of the most unique in a genre that isn’t necessarily known for being individual. The Floydian aspects are the real jaw-droppers as it was both unexpected and obvious, thus giving me more anxiety looking ahead to my year-end list.
Label: Magnetic Eye Records
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Martin Williams
