Psychedelic Garage Rock Loveliness wrapped up with a pop sensibility.
This #FeatureFriday we have the glorious,
Take all the cool stuff from the 60s, filter it through the 70s, ferment it it 80s college rock let it stew through the 90s post grunge guitar indie pop while avoiding the shuffling man nonsense and let it sit. Parts 60s bubblegum tinged psychedelia, clever 70s rock and college rock radio, “Rayguns of Love” by The Striped Bananas is a slab of gorgeous of songwriting goodness. It has hooks all over the place.
Guitars are crisp, bass is pumping, drums are rock steady and the vocals imbue that 60s/90s flipped on it’s head style. Think Redd Kross, Jellyfish and The Dandy Warhols. There’s a punk edge to the guitar in places, a 60s style organ floats in and out. Duncan and Chantelle seem to have an eerie knack of knowing where to inject vocal stabs and cool backing vocals.
The arrangements are cool, and the mixes let everything shine. Every melody is an instant earworm. It’s pure fun and pure pop. They loop around the decades with ease, it’s almost like FM radio – one minute it’s The Flamin Groovies the next it’s The Velvet Underground. I mean I could go on grabbing at perceived influences as is my want but that would imply a copying style but it’s a symbiosis more than anything else. Like alchemy, they have pulled all these styles and blended them perfectly to create music that just works.
Fantastic pop stuff, you should take a listen and then buy because it’s what I advise.
Go on.Do it now.
“Rayguns of Love” manages to sound like an album from the 1960s without feeling outdated. At it’s core, the musical style is psychedelic rock of the DIY variety. For me, this is music that is impossible to have a bad time with; it’s energetic, infectious and upbeat, with an eclectic mix of instruments.
The lyrics fit the style perfectly; they often seem personal like inside jokes, giving the listener the feeling that it’s not the precise words that matter here, but the intent and conviction behind them. I generally like this approach, since it is so open to interpretation and lets the audience project their own emotions and experiences into the songs.
Overall, there are two words I’d describe this album with: honest and fun. It is clear to hear (and feel) that this is the music these artists love and precisely the kind they want to make. It’s the little details, like adding a sitar or tabla into the production, that shows that there is an above average level of care that went into writing and performing these songs.
Since the sound feels so familiar, this is music that can remind the listener of happy things in the past, of simpler times. Sometimes, that is not a bad thing. I highly recommend giving this one a spin.
The Striped Bananas are a psychedelic indie rock band from Hartford, Connecticut consisting of husband and wife duo Duncan and Chantelle Shepard. They’ve been making albums that feature their signature vocal harmonies, fun tunes and richly melodious production since 2012.
https://www.thestripedbananas.com/
Previously…
The Nirvana Fallacy (or, Mania and Her Sophomore Slump) – Saint Louie
- Rayguns of Love by The Striped Bananas
- Mean Bone by Buzzard
- Aldona’s Daughter by Stunt Lover
- #FeatureFriday -Bandcamp Friday Issue
- #FeatureFriday – 1991 by Maisie Marra
- “Muay Thai Bag” by Foxcall
- A Place To Go When You Need To Hide by Rose Alaimo
- #FeatureFriday – And the Bones by Dr. Organ
- #FeatureFriday WIENER DEMEANOR by Cheer Captain
- #FeatureFriday – Effusion by Sweet Freeze
- Beginings Revisted by Jim France
- Recording in Progress by Aaron Smith
- Believer, a.k.a. The Last Shall Be the First
- Scrapyard Boyz: Ultra Despair Duo – Grizzly, Slogan
- The Nirvana Fallacy (or, Mania and Her Sophomore Slump) – Saint Louie
- The Cocker Spaniels Are Still Alive, And So Are You
- X by Everything’s a Crime
- Take to The Streets by Eparapo
- Ashenheart – Faded Gold
- Underground by Trina Chakrabarti