Now this, this is some psychedelic pop right here. I’m talking Technicolor like Dorothy landing in Oz, but she accidentally left her kaleidoscopic contacts in. That kind of colourful. Violet Swells spring from the sunnier climbs of down-under, specifically hailing from Hobart, Tasmania. Though this is only the six pieces debut EP, by gum it’s delicious and accomplished.
Into The Ether rumbles into life like Super Furry Animals jamming with The Beatles on Magical Mystery Tour, until it goes all Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd on you, that is. Switching up between psychedelic whimsy, space jams, and catchy as hell guitar lines, it gets the attention. Jupiter’s Garden gets things off on an edgier direction, hinting as it does with a more psych-garage vibe but still sheeny – picture Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster if they wrote pop songs with The Flaming Lips.
Though I’m reeling off sonic similarities at you from all angles, that’s not to say Violet Swells sound like mere copyists. They might wear their influences on their sleeves, but there is such a psychedelic smorgasbord going on here with a view to song structure akin to William S Burroughs’ cut’n’paste sci-fi writing style. Miracles of a Clockwork Kingdom is a minute instrumental gem for example, that sans-vocals is still a brilliant pop cut because of the bands playful melodies and mishmash sectioning, somewhat reminiscent of Beta Band/The Aliens.
The title track is the only track here that extends beyond a short, snappy pop song length, and doing so seems to sound like most periods of Pink Floyd all at once, with the aforementioned influences popping up here and there to show their faces. I guess, it’s kind of like a centrepiece but one that comes at the end as a summation of what went before.
I appear to have gushed my way through this review, sorry. Now, that might be down to a childlike nostalgia for/adolescent romance with psychedelia, or all the coffee I’ve drunk today, or the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Either way, the EP is only four tracks, and they total less than twenty minutes. Why not listen below and see for yourself?
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