Drifting, swirling, swooning … this local quintet is resurrecting trippier aspects of psych-rock, a more blissful, cerebral thing than merely sounding "druggy." It’s droney and a bit dark, unlike the dreamy, disorienting, psychedelia of yore. Resonant slathers of reverb, tinny clatters of cymbals and heart-thumping kicks … warm wheezing of synths and organs and the guitars just going stratospheric … roaring and roaming. You’ll need headphones for this vinyl release (as in the big ol’ ’70s styled ear-envelopers) since this is music you’ll wanna swim through. E.L.S.W.E.’s second album is an ambient rocker, like hearing (viewing?) some stellar explosion of cosmic dust in slow-motion.
This article appears in Oct 24-30, 2012.
