Psychedelic space rock with a hint of shoegaze and stoner rock makes for a great retro-sounding rock record to be enjoyed at maximum volume.
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Turn Me On Dead Man – We Are the Star People LP
Alternative Tentacles Records
Turn Me On Dead Man is a rock band from San Francisco that formed at the turn of this century but didn’t release their first album until they were five years old. Since then they’ve released a few more and have now released their newest one titled, We Are The Star People which is their first for the Alternative Tentacles label.
The band is an interesting one as they sound as if they appeared here in a time machine that left in the 1970’s. Their sound is primarily psychedelic space rock with very loud, fuzzed-out guitars that are played at volume 11. The songs are mid-tempo and have a melodic edge to them despite the big wall of sound guitars that owe at least a nod to the shoegaze and stoner metal scenes. The vocals sound layered as well and are slightly buried in the mix right behind the guitars. They’ve got some good hooks too and wrote some really catchy and soothing songs. Notable standouts include, “Dreamchild” with its very thick fuzzed out guitar songs and slightly reverb vocals and strong leads, and “Missing Time” which starts out simple and slowly builds into a dense, psychedelic wall of sound only to come gently back down. The little dabs of things like grunge and shoegaze add depth to their excellent space rock sound and this is definitely a band that would be amazing to see live at top volume. This record is a shining example of mixing the heavy with the melodic without going too far in either direction and striking that perfect balance.
In keeping with their retro style sound the band recorded this album on analog tape and the only physical media it is available on is vinyl! This kind of rock record was designed to be analog and kudos to the band and label for sticking to that format. The record does come with a download code so you can take this on the go but ideally you should be playing this on a turntable at top volume with the lights turned down. Being my first exposure to this band I was extremely impressed with this album and now aim to check out their back catalog to see what I’m missing. Anyone into rock and roll, space rock, shoegaze, or stoner rock will find something appealing on this album and is encouraged to check it out.
