ALBUM REVIEW: Demons Of the Mind – The Alligator Wine

A lot of bands look to the seventies for a little bit of inspiration. What most don’t do, however, is remove all the lead guitars and focus on what can be done with the organ and a bass. Completely out there on their own, THE ALLIGATOR WINE set their sights on the strange, hallucinogenic effects that some heavy effects and some unique synthesizer sounds can achieve with their debut album, Demons Of the Mind.

Kicking off, Shotgun is unexpectedly tranquil in it’s open, an acoustic percussive quality tapping away under the synth. That introducing swings around into a hot and heavy blues funk that lays heavy into the thick vocal distortions and organ melody as the hook of the chorus pounds back and forth. It’s pretty catchy southern feeling rock music, a big opening that sets up for a promising road ahead. Crocodile Inn croons in on gentle modulation and swaying coolness through the resonating keys. There’s a feeling of a mid-nineties chilled trance tune and a pained rock ballad in here, there’s a packed production that’s got plenty going on, but doesn’t necessarily feel fresh all the way though, maybe giving that it could have shaved a good minute off the run time.

Similarly, Voodoo is a thumping tune you can really move it, that has some weird textures owing mostly to the bands unique approach to effects, especially on their organ sounds. This is pretty good fun, and you can count on this being a wicked show, with all the drama of gospel and the whacking ideas that make this down right sacrilegious. Lyrically Ten Million Slaves is naturally a heavy weigh in, but the kind of stomping beat that THE ALLIGATOR WINE manage to push through makes this feel much more optimistic. Again, the life of this track is really found in its dexterity between a percussive rhythm section and the experimental organ and bass sounds. Nothing is off limits here, it’s out for a good time, to take you down some unexpected roads.

Another trip around THE ALLIGATOR WINE’s whacky fairground, The Flying Carousel is just as catchy as the other outings on this record, once more with plenty of psychedelic effects lifting and lowering the tone. Things get a little more contemplative and trippy here, as the duo settle you unto the second half of this delirium. Lorane is undoubtedly the darkest tune on this album, watery vocals bubbling through the mossy feel of the composition. Atmospheric notes hang like droplets after a storm, while the humming harmonies haunt in the depths of the melody, and strange warping and creeping modulation. When the bright, wired sound of the organ bowls forth and the otherworldly fuzz of the bass come together to fully complete the picture, everything slots together to complete this powerful song.

Just as the name suggests, there’s a dreamy quality to Dream Eyed Little Girl, a dark voyage into a trance like state. As ever, a great beat that catches you and draws up strange images through its cloud-like soundscape. There’s a grainy synth underlying in the verse that sprinkled in with the swooping chorus creates a solid dynamic. Whooping into action next is Mamae, as hot and sweaty a swamp sound as you could ask for. The modulation continues to keep things innovative even this late in the album. With some classic seventies sounds permeating through the organ and a heralding chorus, this has the feeling of a supernatural, psychedelic awakening in the humid marshland of your mind.

As we settling in for our final outing with THE ALLIGATOR WINE, the sombre tones of Sweetheart On fire carry us out. Its completely subdued compared to the raucous antics of the record, the swaying ambience behind the gentle vocals and stripped back keys. Things build slowly and respectfully, an emotional out-pour that shifts the mood by keeps completely in tone with all that came before.

A completely unique take on psychedelic music, this fusion of rock ballads, heavy blues, southern rock and seventies outlandish organ playing blends so well with the glue of experimental modulation and outlandishly big beats. THE ALLIGATOR WINE have created a sound on Demons Of The Mind that distinguishes them from the crowd and no doubt will have you cavorting around like your at some crazed cult meeting or in the throws of an especially riotous wake. In these strange times, some strange music is just what we need.

Rating: 8/10

Demons Of The Mind is set for release April 24th via Century Media Records. 

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