ALBUM REVIEW: Palo Verde – Psychlona
Harnessing the power of punk alongside the far out sounds of 60s and 70s psychedelia of the Palm Desert scene, PSYCHLONA have become one of the UK’s premier heavy psych rock bands as the doom and psych scenes undergo a significant renaissance. Traversing the sonic cosmos in a riff-fuelled time machine, the band’s third album Palo Verde is their most electrifying effort yet. Kicking up the dust across the desert as they cruise in their Cadillac under the sun, Palo Verde is a luxuriously rich kaleidoscope of heatwave hallucinogenic colour. After two exhilarating chapters of their cosmic journey having already passed, 2018’s Mojo Rising and 2020’s Venus Skytrip, this album plunges you even deeper into the ever-evolving world of PSYCHLONA.
Drenched in simultaneously swirling and prismatic colour, Palo Verde cuts straight to the point, hurling you down a Willy Wonka style tunnel filled with magical psychedelic wonders from the very first second. Whilst its predecessor Venus Skytrip was a more atmospheric affair, Palo Verde is weightier, as if the Mojave sun is beating down on your brow, causing a whole manner of punk-infused psychedelic madness. Moving away from the more traditional BLACK SABBATH inspired parts of their sound as seen on Venus Skytrip, it feels as though PSYCHLONA have ventured up SLEEP’s Holy Mountain, creating a hulking, dune-eating riff machine in the process. This further adventure into the depths of the shifting desert sands has given the band’s sound a more ethereal nature. Throughout the album’s duration, your mind feels expanded as you get lost in the luscious delayed reverbs, whilst being grounded by the flanged, earthy bass lines. Despite this psychological expansion, the ever-prescient loneliness of the vast desert is never far behind. Even so, PSYCHLONA’s natural ability to plunge you into psych rock nirvana is awe-inspiring, as your imagination flies to lofty heights with the lavish guitar leads. To quote the band’s closing song Warped, they certainly “take you out of your mind” and “show you places you should never know”.
Sitting firmly and comfortably in low-slung desert grooves, this album is steeped in the subculture that inspired the record; a sonic time machine in which the band’s guitars traverse a rich sonic soundscape, reproducing the lavish and luxurious analogue atmospherics of rock’s most decadent decade for a modern audience. Basslines keep your soul rooted, bringing low end rumbles that remind you not to venture too far off the psychedelic path, or you’ll be forever lost in pink candy floss clouds. As the drums harken back to the iconic mixes of yesteryear, with a tight performance and perfectly applied compression, you can’t help but feel that this album would have slotted in perfectly next to the psychedelic greats of the era if it had been brought out in 1975.
A scorching feedback loop brings in the album with an exhilarating suspense, when Gasoline does kick in you’re instantly tapping your foot to the catchy 60s melodies encapsulated within the song’s stoner grooves; it is definitely a song for burning rubber on asphalt. After the excitement of the opening track, 1975 settles you in for the long haul; undulating riffs and bouncing bass grooves open up the space for the album’s psychedelic magic to take hold. Rainbird and Purple River are the highlights of the album, as both songs see PSYCHLONA utilise the PINK FLOYD approach to layers. Floating atmospherics make you feel lightweight as you drift across technicolour skies feeling comfortably and pleasantly numb.
Meet Your Devil is a hulking, SABBATH-esque red giant of a track sitting in the middle of the album. Crunching distortion and minimal effects create an imposing atmosphere as if you have come face to face with the demons in the desert. La Tolvanera is Palo Verde’s most mysterious track; eerie and enigmatic, it conjures up imagery of the dark, haunted days of the Old West as ominous vocal melodies rotate around your head. Album closer Warped sums up Palo Verde perfectly, consolidating all that has gone before it and concisely reflecting that PSYCHLONA have shown us places that feel tantalisingly forbidden. The album as a whole has such a brilliant flow, dynamically shifting precisely when it needs to while still feeling completely improvised – a testament to the band’s musical chemistry.
PSYCHLONA have raised the bar with Palo Verde. Without relying on tropes and stereotypical genre confines, the album feels invigoratingly fresh. The band have melted down the retro vibes, sights and sounds, and as a result they have managed to remould it all in their own image. It is the start of an exciting new era for PSYCHLONA as they strive to reach the higher echelons of modern psychedelia.
Rating: 9/10
Palo Verde is out now via Psycho Waxx.
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