The Saint James Society
The Saint James Society
Tee Pee

The Saint James Society are an Austin, Texas collective, all droopy hats and opulent jewelry, raven clad and ultra rad, who are just as likely to be selling fragrances at a desert bazaar as they are pushing garage psych in a dimly lit back room full of stony, armless idols. Thankfully, we get the latter (although it won’t hurt if you want to envision the former too), and despite the fact that their self-titled debut is but a four-song EP, it oozes with enough mystic mojo to melt the moon. Like a switchblade hypnotist with an Edgar Allen Poe mind, The Saint James Society taunt you with their BEAT, a tell-tale rhythm that drives the entire EP so that the acid drone and dark fuzz of its pulsing quartet (“Reflections,” “Of Silver and Gold,” “The Ballad of the White Horse,” “The Devil, An Angel, and a Broken Window”) fills up the very marrow of your bones. It’s a moving (dare I say sexy?) trip, equal parts style and sound, and will surely find favour with fans of Black Mountain, Quest for Fire, The Black Angels, and The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, as well as restless sinners and the terminally cool.

Check out the video for “Reflections” from The Saint James Society!

Three Wolf Moon
W
Self-Released

It helps to think of Three Wolf Moon as something like an old Native legend and not, as you might be immediately tempted to do, an homage to Three Dog Night or the ironic, cult-folk t-shirt design (which I’m afraid it is). That way, when you drink in its hazy, star-filled, electric splendor, you can stare at the sky for hours with nothing but an affinity for wandering spirits in your mind. Indeed, W is a three-song brain-tickler, a delicate odyssey of garage-psych obsessed with alphabetical stress, and its trio of  doubled-yous (“Water/Wine,” “Wetbrain,” “The Worst”) are indelible gifts of indie-freak you won’t soon forget. You know, there’s no reason this Canadian band, which features members of Black Wizard, If We Are Machines, and The Best Revenge, can’t run with the likes of Black Mountain and Weird Owl to whatever cosmic finish line awaits ‘em. And I’ll be on the sidelines doing my part by handing out the Kool-Aid when they pass by…and wearing that t-shirt, no doubt.

Listen to W (and download it for free) right here!

Baby Woodrose
Mindblowing Seeds and Disconnected Flowers
Bad Afro

Lorenzo Woodrose celebrates 10 years of acid rock and his love affair with the Hawaiian baby woodrose seed with Mindblowing Seeds and Disconnected Flowers, a 15-song collection of original four-track demos, two songs that were released on  7″ under the alias Disconnected Flowers, and two other previously unreleased tunes. The swirling psychedelia of Baby Woodrose’s early garage fuzz is on full display here, and despite the fact he’s been pushing this weird beard Danish delicacy over six full-length albums, it feels as much like a brand new trip as it does sitting down and getting high with on old, talented friend. In fact, the eleven demos here that eventually made it on to the Baby Woodrose debut Blows Your Mind! come off sounding better on this spin, like being fed an extra spoonful of druggy distortion. Mindblowing Seeds and Disconnected Flowers is a real freaky treat for Woodrose fans and an excellent way to relive (and perhaps try to remember) the last 10 years through the amp of The Man.

Listen to “Baby Blows” from Mindblowing Seeds and Disconnected Flowers!