New releases last four weeks: Psych/Garage Rock

Review: Stockholm-based multi-instrumentalist and composer Art Longo impresses here with Echowah Island, a new album sure to wind its way into your affections. It was crafted over years in his home studio and is "psychotropical pop" drawing deep inspiration from late 80s music and dub. The album's lush soundscape evokes orange sunsets and ocean breezes and is layered with spring reverb, space echo and wah-wah effects that smooth out the edges as the steady pulse of vintage drum machines moves things on down low. A standout feature is Claudio Jonas, whose ethereal vocals recall classic French femme fatale singers of the 60s. Her poetic, kaleidoscopic lyrics add to a nostalgic dream world that gently bends reality and makes his both escapist and thought-provoking.

Review: Originally recorded in Rome with top-tier players like Giorgio Carnini and Giovanni Tommaso, this psychedelic library session bridges modal jazz, Latin percussion, and fuzzed-out funk. This reissue restores the 1970 cut in full, swirling through ghostly organ grooves and spiralling rhythm sections with a clarity that feels startlingly fresh. 'Psichefreelico (Sostenuto)' and 'Bacharachico' glide between dreamy lounge and scorched delay-drenched oddness, while 'Africaneidico' pulses with loose Afro-Latin syncopation. Mined from Italy's golden age of library music and remastered from mono tapes, it's a masterclass in instrumental storytellingivivid, woozy and totally transportive.

Review: Candeleros is a six-member, Colombia- and Venezuela-rooted collective based in Madrid that fuse Cumbia, merengue, dub and an array of Afro-Caribbean rhythms, creating a psychedelic, postmodern celebration of Latin sound. Their music blends Andean echoes, cinematic textures and hypnotic percussion into what feels like a ritualistic dance experience and has seen them collaborating with artists like Dodosound and Carlos Talez. They always reject the usual genre boundaries while focusing on cultural activism and the power of collective expression and have performed across Europe. As this album shows, their sound is passionate, borderless and proof that Cumbia has truly rooted itself in Europe.

Review: Primarily known for his sprawling LA-based psych/garage/punk/all of the above work as Osees aka Thee Oh Sees aka Oh Sees, John Dwyer links up with experienced percussionist Dave Barbarossa (Fine Young Cannibals, Adam & The Ants) for the retro bratty glam-punk experience of the year - Chime Oblivion. Their self-titled debut is packed full of squelchy synths, jagged minimalist guitar lines and high-pitched eccentric vocals, paying clear homage to classic acts such as The Slits and Bow Wow Wow. Chock full of bite-sized bangers including 'Neighbourhood Dog' and 'Kiss Her Or Be Her', both of which scoff at the notion of a three-minute track, this is retrofitted throwback dance-punk in the stylised era before it even had such a moniker.

Review: LA Lom's March 2024 show at Chicago's Thalia Hall debuts on vinyl for Record Store Day 2025 a year or so after the band's defining live moment. Just months after packing the Empty Bottle, the band returned to an even larger crowd, which served as proof of their ever-growing Chicago fanbase. Determined to keep the raw energy of their LA roots alive, they built a bright red round stage in the centre of the hall and were surrounded by fans dancing and singing from every side. The night was captured on film and tape by longtime collaborator Jacob Butler and now, the much talked about performance featuring original tracks, classic cumbia covers and a Smokey Robinson ballad finally makes its way to wax.

Review: Leaf Hound have been a staple of the heavy rock scene for decades, but this offering feels like a rebirth. A band often heralded as the pioneers of metal, their journey started in the early 70s, but it's their ability to keep evolving that stands out here. More than 50 years since their debut, the London-based band is back with their first studio album in over 15 years. And while many might think you can't teach an old dog new tricks, Leaf Hound have a few surprises left. The opening track, 'Burn The House Down,' feels like the start of a fire that only gets hotter as the album progresses. The kind of heavy, groovy riff that gives you a sense of nostalgia for the glory days of stoner rock, it's clear that the band still has that bite. As you hit the upbeat 'Yippee Ki Yay' and the harder-hitting 'Bold 'n' Easy,' it's impossible to ignore the fire in their belly. Sure, the lineup has changed over the years, but with Peter French still at the helm, the powerful vocals that originally defined Leaf Hound continue to ring out loud and clear. By the time you get to tracks like 'Thought Police' and 'Watching Life's Wheels,' the album begins to speak to the turbulent times we live in. There's no pretension here - just hard-hitting rock for hard-hitting times. Closing with the anthemic 'High Danger,' it's evident that Leaf Hound still have a lot to say and are far from fading away into obscurity.

Review: Genre-defying trio Little Barrie & Malcolm Catto - their bassist Lewis Wharton is the third one, if you're wondering - have created an album brimming with explosive energy and diverse influences fusing rock 'n roll, deep funk, jazz, and fuzzy atmospherics. Barrie Cadogan (guitar/vocals) has played with everyone from The The to Primal Scream, but this LP moves well away from indie templates, employing a freeform approach, experimenting with tempos, volumes and textures. Tracks like 'Spektator' and 'Sick 8' showcase their ability to build subtle momentum and then let it slip back, allowing space for intricate instrumentation and lots of vivid expression.

Review: Los Jaivas' Alturas de Macchu Picchu arrives newly remastered and reissued by state51 on heavyweight wax, and it remains a landmark of South American music. Its blurring of psychedelic rock, Andean folk and Pablo Neruda's poetic power makes the album, which was recorded in exile during Chile's Pinochet era, an evocation of both the spirit and struggle of Latin America. Tracks like 'La Poderosa Muerte' and 'Sube a Nacer Conmigo Hermano' swirl with emotion and complexity to deliver a cinematic spiritual experience. Inspired by Incan ruins and resistance, Alturas is more than music-it's a cultural beacon that invites you into a timeless soundscape.

Review: Carpet of Fallen Leaves serves as the luminous introduction to Eddie Marcon, a folk-pop project from Eddie Corman and Jules Marcon. The collection takes in more than two decades of intimate, self-released recordings that all bring fragile beauty and melodic grace from Japan's underground psych-folk scene. Gentle guitar, soft organ and deft bass interlace with pristine vibraphone, flute and pedal steel sounds to form sparse and spare yet intricate arrangements. Collaborators like Ikuro Takahashi and Shintaro Sakamoto add their own contributions, and so songs shimmer with a real emotional depth and Eastern charm. Highlights like 'Tora To Lion' and 'Shoujo' inspire quiet wonder while capturing fleeting moments of everyday life with a real tenderness and elegance.

Review: Charif Megarbane, the Beirut-based multi-instrumentalist and composer, stretches his sonic vocabulary on this sprawling new full-length, a genre-hopping journey that draws as much from the Lebanese coast as it does from the wider diaspora. Where his earlier work painted intimate portraits of local life, this one looks outwarditoward cultural entanglement, exile, and exchange. 'Hanadi' kicks things off with a sax-led, Somali-inspired groove, while 'Dreams of an Insomniac' drifts through hazy keys and fluttering violin. 'Al Dollarji' recalls his signature Mediterranean funk, full of ornate strings, but 'Al Bahriye' disrupts the flow with hip-hop motifs and vocal samples. Collaborations feel purposeful: 'Helia', with Swedish composer Sven Wunder and the Stockholm Studio Orchestra, layers lush cinematic strings into Megarbane's idiosyncratic palette. Even miniature pieces like 'Sfiha' or 'Preamble to the Conclusion' feel essential, punctuating the record's narrative of displacement with clarity and warmth. It's a collection that resists linearity, folding nostalgia and innovation into a rich, borderless soundian informal transmission between traditions, cities and moods.

Review: A second joining of forces from two celebrated Chicago acts, blending deep, organic rhythms with a minimalistic electronic pulse. With the novel but logical addition of Jason Stein on bass clarinet, the collaboration stretches even further, pulling together the spiritual fluidity of Natural Information Society and the electronic minimalism of Bitchin Bajas. The first single, 'Clock no Clock,' is a deep dive into hypnotic rhythms, with guimbri grooves intertwining seamlessly with electronic bursts, flutes and organs. The other three tracks are equally compelling, the music unfolding like a living organism, constantly shifting but always grounded. Expansive, intricately woven sonic delights.

Review: Sometimes, Record Store Day releases really do come through, and this is one of them as it unearths extremely rare 1988 demo recordings from alt-rock trailblazers Royal Trux, previously only circulated on a handful of cassettes in 1998. Now available for the first time on wax, the collection captures the raw, unfiltered energy that preceded their breakthrough Twin Infinitives and features early versions of 'Walkin' Machine,' 'Cut You Loose,' 'Gold Dust' and a cover of Neil Young's 'Time Fades Away,' These demos really give you a window into the band's formative chaos and brilliance and highlight the uncompromising vision that made Royal Trux such favourites.

Review: Sacred Mushroom's debut is a blues-rock gem that shows the raw energy and talent of the Cincinnati-based quintet, led by Larry Goshorn and his brother Danny Goshorn. While their name might hint at psychedelia, the album leans heavily into blues traditions, paired with tight arrangements and flashes of rock ingenuity. Originals like 'Catatonic Lover', have an infectious energy and intricate chord progressions reminiscent of Jefferson Airplane, while 'All Good Things Must End' delivers a soulful Chicago blues waltz enhanced by Rusty Work's spirited harmonica. The funky opener, 'I Don't Like You', brims with dynamic harmonies and sharp guitar work that sets the tone for the album. Covers are equally impressive; their rendition of the Kinks' 'I'm Not Like Everybody Else' adds a fresh, acoustic-electric interplay and timeless melodic charm. On the extended 'Lifeline' and the driving 'Mean Old World,' the band channels the electric blues of Fleetwood Mac and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. Charly's reissue should bring renewed clarity to this overlooked treasure, revealing a band with grit and versatility.

Review: William Tyler stands as one of the most influential solo American guitarists of this century. Having played with Silver Jews and Lambchop, he's carved out a singular space for himself, with albums weaving country roots and classical influences with postmodern experimentation; he melds field recordings and static drifts for a sense of imminent boundlessness, recoverable just over the hill. Drawing on inspirations from Chet Atkins to Gavin Bryars, from electroacoustic abstraction to hypnotic boogie, Time Indefinite - his first solo album in five years - hears Tyler reimmerse himself in said sound, reflecting on the hiss, distortion, and rawness of a turbulent era. With eerie loops and luminous melodies, Time Indefinite is an essential soundtrack for fostering resilience.

Review: The American musician and guitarist newest album is a collection of compositions that balance melancholia with quiet defiance. From the disorienting, tape-warped opening moments to the album's delicate final waltz, Tyler crafts an introspective instrumental landscape where the past and present converge. 'Cabin Six' starts with a hazy, found-sound texture, its distant hum of static giving way to Tyler's contemplative guitar. It's a track that feels suspended in time, evoking the isolation of its recording process. 'Concern', in contrast, unfurls a luminous melody atop warm strings, the steel guitar lifting the piece into a realm of understated grandeur. It's among Tyler's most affecting compositions, a quiet affirmation amid uncertainty. On 'Star of Hope', the album's spiritual centerpiece, an AM radio-sourced hymn weaves into Tyler's delicate loops, creating a ghostly, celestial resonance. The interplay between organic and electronic texturesitape hiss, processed echoesigrounds the track in a space both intimate and otherworldly. 'Electric Lake' shimmers with ecstatic drone, its weightless progression nodding to La Monte Young, while 'Howling' sways between ambient pastoralism and an undercurrent of discord, its background noise a restless specter. The album closes with 'Held', a sigh of relief wrapped in a gentle acoustic waltz. The ever-present tape warble lingers, a reminder of unease, but Tyler leans into beauty. Time Indefinite is a triumph of instrumental storytellingione of quiet reckoning, but also persistence, offering solace in its hypnotic, evocative swells.

Review: Way back in 2004, Sanctuary Records commissioned pre-Britpop pop hipsters St Etienne member and serial compilation curator Bob Stanley to put together a collection celebrating the British 'acid folk' movement of the late 1980s and early 1970s. Long deleted, the previously CD only compilation is finally returning on vinyl - this time in expanded form, with the inclusion of additional tracks and a few picks from its (also unavailable) sequel. It's a superb set all told and one that showcases a take on folk heavy on effects, unusual rhythms, sweet vocals, horror-adjacent sounds and pastoral but otherworldly instrumentation. A few well-known names aside, it's a genuinely deep dive too - as you'd expect from someone of Stanley's knowledge and experience.