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Single/Download Review
alansmithee feat. Marklar Checking OutFlowers In The Dustbin
Article written by
Kev W - Nov 24, 2014
You know how pioneering psych classic 'Tomorrow Never Knows' begins with the line "Turn off you mind, relax and float downstream"? And you know how that stop/start drum beat and those squealing tape loops make it difficult to achieve the suggested sensation whilst listening to said Beatles song? Well Scots alansmithee, with a little help from Marklar, have come up with the perfect substitute, not once, but twice. The Livingston group have proven difficult to stick a tag on across the handful of tunes they've delivered so far, taking the sounds of the great '60s beat groups and spicing them up with a hint of blues here, a smidgen of shoegaze there, but always a heavy psychedelic vibe.
Chimes of guitar pierce through the loose, drifting and drowsy 'Checking Out', a track that begins so laid back it's practically upside down, before a more robust form of psych starts to take hold with both drums and guitars yearning for more of the action as it edges towards a weightier finale. Very much carrying that same feeling of a misty sound that washes over you, 'Plain Space' is again a psychedelic delight that takes from the past but doesn't dwell there, offering a similar kind of ambiance to that which has gained the likes of Pond so many plaudits. These aren't songs to study though, in fact the message is really quite simple: turn off your mind, relax, and just let it all soak in.