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Cheat Sheet: Heavy Psych

by Mike McGuirk

"Heavy psych." Just the words themselves sound cool. When someone says a band plays heavy psych, you immediately at least have an idea of what you're in for. Specifically, super loud guitars, howling feedback and long floating sections that sound like you're docking your space craft on, um, Uranus. Or maybe Saturn. Anyway, fun, fun, fun.

That said, psychedelic music, as a whole, can be kind of annoying when it's too poppy (The Zombies) or too plink-plink-y (basically anything that the Ba-Da Bing! label used to put out). But when the music is a combination of heavy metal and space rock (see Blue Cheer and Hawkwind) or a more Stooge-punk hybrid like Monoshock, I, personally, can't get enough. Then there's all the Japanese dudes Acid Mothers Temple (the very definition of psych rock), Mainliner (the definition of heavy psych) and Boredoms (good luck). There is a wide range of styles and bands that fall under this umbrella. And the line goes from the '60s all the way up to the present day.

Granted, this music is not for everybody, and psychedelic music, is, in the end, utterly personal. Even some fans of heavy psych who love the glacial crush of My Bloody Valentine will hate Captain Beyond. No matter, because the idea is to bring the listener to a different level of consciousness. That in itself is a very specific and ambitious concept that lends itself to extreme subjectivity, so it's no wonder.

Ugh. That's complicated, and this is turning into a term paper. Really, who cares about all that? The fact is, this music below sounds good when you play it loud, and if drugs were legal, it'd probably be fun to take them while listening to it.

I've offered a good dozen-plus albums here that represent both the breadth of styles and some of the high points this positively enchanting genre of music has to offer. But be careful. There are a lot of repetitive, crazy sounds, lyrics that are possibly about wizards, and blaring volumes. Please try not to go insane.

Loveless

My Bloody Valentine

Loveless took years to complete and almost brought its parent label (Creation) down with it. The struggle was worth it though, because the end result is miraculous -- a blend of blistering sound and angelic melody brought to life through Kevin Shields' fervent attention to studio detail and hazy guitar pyrotechnics. "Soon" is the standout club track of the entire shoegazer scene, but Loveless is a near perfect fever dream of a guitar pop record.

Captain Beyond

It's odd that Captain Beyond has remained as obscure as they have when this 1972 album takes Spirit, Deep Purple's Machine Head and Hawkwind's Space Ritual to what can only be termed as the next level. At their best, they're like a space rock version of the Allman Brothers. "Myopic Void" was about 1000 years ahead of its time.

Outsideinside

Blue Cheer

Do you like heavy music? If so, it's time to get acquainted with Blue Cheer's second record. Drummer Paul Whaley is the one to listen for as he locks into rhythms that are so solid, you could build a house on them. Check out the blistering "Just A Little Bit Closer" (especially the phased drums), and Dickie Peterson's (the best singing bassist ever) searing lead vocals.

Comets On Fire

There are countless garage bands emulating the psychedelic sunshine of yesteryear. Comets on Fire's debut diametrically dishes out brown lysergic bad trips in waves of sonic brutality. Armed with dirty punk energy and the crazy sounds of vintage tape delay, songs like "One Foot" throw a pipe bomb into Little Steven's Underground Garage before urinating on the ashes.

Hairway To Steven

Butthole Surfers

Psychic ... Powerless, Locust Abortion Technician and Hairway form a three-pronged weapon the Buttholes used to disembowel all music in the 1980s. Relentlessly spaced-out, with guitarist Paul Leary emerging as an LSD-ravaged bastard child of Jimmy Page, John McLaughlin and Lucifer. His playing really is a doorway to some other dimension.

Starless And Bible Black Sabbath

Acid Mothers Temple

This Japanese psychedelic collective -- that has sold somewhere in the neighborhood of a jillion records on the underground -- delivers this ode to two major influences (King Crimson and Black Sabbath) with their usual dedication to total brain annihilation. The title cut begins by slicing the riff from Sabbath's "The Thrill of It All" in half, then finishes by setting the inner universe on fire. Totally excellent music for going insane to. "Woman from a Hell" sounds like Spacemen 3 in a knife fight with Mainliner.

Vanilla Fudge

Vanilla Fudge suffered from myriad weaknesses: poor choice in covers, lousy songwriting, way too much schmaltzy blue-eyed soul and an unhealthy obsession with hippie-baked sonic poetry. Despite all this, the band's 1967 debut was a radical statement about the possibilities of heaviness in rock and roll. Whereas The Jimi Hendrix Experience swung hard but with agility, the Fudge rumbled like a couple of continental plates slowly ramming into one another. It's a plodding aesthetic that would influence a whole generation of hard-rock icons, including Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Blue Cheer.

Space Ritual

Hawkwind

Hawkwind's '73 masterpiece is a loose-as-a-goose collage of live material gathered in the early days of their storied career and features many of their best songs. Lemmy Kilmister plays bass. This is the definition of Space Rock -- balls-out rhythm lines chug on and on, free-freak guitar solos erupt all over the place, and, well just look at the cover art.

Hit Songs for Girls

Superconductor

Heavy metal indie rock band Superconductor released this unapologetically messy and loud head-butt of a record in 1993. The band has six guitars, so even if there were any slow/quiet songs, they'd still rumble like a jet engine. Opener "Scootin'," better-than-Wowee Zowee crusher "Nobody's Cutie" and "Allstar" are just three of the high points. And that's before you get to the 32-minute closing freak-out "Feedbackin'," which includes a 12-minute absolutely unhinged live cover of "Helter Skelter." This is an essential indie rock record. Singer Carl Newman went on to form The New Pornographers.

Mellow Out

Mainliner

One of the many projects launched by Japanese heavy noise god Asahito Nanjo, Mainliner also featured Acid Mothers Temple's Kawabata Makoto on "Motor Psycho Guitar" and free-jazz drummer Hajime Koizumi making a racket underneath. With the stated intention of taking music to new possibilities, the trio unleashed this cyclone of blown-out guitars and haunted vocals in 1995. As far as pure sonic brutality goes, few, if any, records can touch Mellow Out and its three tracks -- two of which are over 15 minutes. In the consistently superb world of Japanese rock, this is one of the major milestones.

A Wound in Eternity

Farflung

Long-toiling psychedelic warriors Farflung channel the riffs, vectoring basslines and vocal stylings of their heroes Hawkwind with this 2008 release. Wound in Eternity is Farflung's sixth album, and while the band's well-known affinity for Future Days-era Can (they even covered the title track once) bubbles up here and there in moments of stoner-y calm, it's the harrowing warp speeds meant to jangle your nerves that matter. "Like It Has Never Been" is just one of several songs on here that win by distilling psychedelic rock, hurtling space metal and a soul-satisfyingly catchy chorus.

Super Ae

Boredoms

The Boredoms offer those addicted to the mind-bending effects of nitrous oxide seven tracks of doom metal bash, hyper-speed astral travel and the healing power of New Age psychedelia. Super Ae marked a new era for this incredible band and needs to be experienced by anyone interested in music that goes too far.