Psychedelic Horseshit – Laced
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When one is a member of a genre that has been dubbed ‘shitgaze,’ you must know how to walk the tall tightrope between producing music that is entirely listenable and enjoyable, and producing music that sounds like, well, shit. If used simply to add a slight layer of distortion that mostly fades away to reveal solid tunes then it falls into the first category. If a band simply mixes layers of ill-fitting instruments, the result is that of the second. Thankfully, it seems as though Psychedelic Horseshit falls into the first category, for the most part anyways.
“Puff” starts things out in a mildly timid manner. Squalling feedback noises echo in slightly at first, while a grumbling noise builds to execute a groovy first tune of pure instrumental. This beat continues to the next song on which the buzzy vocals of Matt Whitehurst come into play. His addition to the muddled jam is foggy at first while you acclimate to the overall effect, but by the end of the second song there is a general feeling of normalcy to Psychedelic Horseshit. Thanks to his voice matching the instrumental aspects, the first two songs, short as they may be separately, seamlessly combine to create a good introduction to Laced.
As I said before, the majority of this album falls along the line of an enjoyable uniqueness. Some of the highlights of this feat come on numbers like “Tropical Vision,” where the band uses the gritty ambience of the background to set the tone of the song. I mean, when you open with the noise of birds and bongos, you can’t help but feel the waves and sun of the beach. To me, this is probably one of the most enticing songs on this album. The aspects that combine to make-up the ‘shitgaze’ definitely attribute to something, as opposed to just being there to fill empty space on a record. It feels motivated instead of random.
What makes this band able to produce quality albums is the ease of enjoying their sound; I don’t have to struggle to discern the good qualities, they lay them out quite plainly. That being said, there are a few songs that I straight up don’t like for the same reason: they are too plain. I understand what the band was going for on “Dead on Arrival,” with their slow-paced and bleakness, but it doesn’t do much for someone on a listening standpoint, but perhaps that’s just based on my own listening standpoint.
Regardless, I’m still in awe that I could enjoy something within the genre of ‘shitgaze’ so much. It’s the perfect chill record for the up and coming dog days of summer.