New


INTOTHESTRATOSPHERE It’s time to lose your mind, baby.


THE CHEMISTRY SET This Day Will Never Happen Again Dead Bees CD www.deadbees.com


This full length CD includes all six songs from The Chemistry Set’s triumphant 2009 comeback EP, Alchemy 101 (reviewed in issue 10) plus eight new


tunes in a similar style. Perhaps you can have your day again, as decades of dormancy have done The Chemistry Set no harm at all, carrying on where they left off in the early ’90s, all melodic pop-psych with lots of chiming guitars and mellotrons. Over an hour the songs complement each


other, building up a highly effective, evocative mood, just the soundtrack for an evening on a


Up until 2007’s Tio Bitar they grooved __________________________________________


Mediterranean beach at the end of a scorching day. Guest male and female vocalists add extra songs in French, Spanish and Catalan, although the duo of David Mclean and Paul Lake are strong singers themselves. Phil Suggitt


DUNGEN Skit I Allt Subliminal Sounds CD www.subliminalsounds.se


Still paying their dues to their country’s psychedelic heritage after a 10-year tenure of heavy experimentation, you’d think that being sat atop Sweden’s


progressive rock pyramid for so long would leave few stones left for Dungen to unturn.


reverentially through their heritage with November styled guitar freak-outs and fuzz sensitive Nature- like numbers. Even if you’re not that up on Sweden’s colourful rock history, you could just as easily weigh them alongside Super Furry Animals or Dead Meadow and get equally respectable nods of partisan approval. As their last album 4 however took a more


noticeable turn to incorporate jazz and Atlas sounding prog-symphony, that feel is continued on opener ‘Vara Snabb’ – swapping gigantic psych aneurism for gentle psilocin ambience. And even with the better moments falling to the heavier, more stoner-rolling Dungen of old (‘Hogdlastoppen’) Skit I Allt still rates as one of the year’s best psych-rock albums so far. Richard S Jones


GURUMANIAX Psy Valley Hill Bureau B CD


www.bureau-b.com It’s hardly surprising that Gurumaniax sound like the spirit of ’70s krautrock reborn given that


the trio comprises Mani Neumeier, master drummer and founder member of Guru Guru, Ax Genrich, former Guru Guru guitarist, and bassist Guy Segers,


formerly of ’70s Belgian experimental outfit Univers Zero. Prompted by the death of Guru Guru


founder member Uli Trepte last year, the Gurumaniax project was conceived as a revisitation of the spirit of Guru Guru’s key early ’70s recordings with the epic ‘Spaceship Memories’, an intentional echo of ‘Spaceship’ from the band’ssecond album from 1971 Hinten. Under the leadership of Mani Neumeier, the trio apply a highly fluid, improvisatory approach to their wandering psychedelic jams with the entire album coming together in the studio over a period of four days.


Close your eyes and this could almost be a long


lost early ’70s recording. Grahame Bent


Dungen: “sat atop Sweden’s progressive rock pyramid”.


influences such as The Beach Boys and B***les). Former XTC bassist Colin Moulding mightily returns the compliment on opening track ‘Your Century’, while Maitland’s melodious, soft psych songwriting gift reaches its apogee on the tender, Brian Wilsonesque ‘Handbirds’. ‘Terry The Toad’, meanwhile, even calls to mind The Uncle Devil Show; a far worthier pop group than posterity allows. Marco Rossi


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MISS CHAIN & THE BROKEN HEELS On A Bittersweet Ride Screaming Apple LP/CD www.screaming-apple-records.de Oh, this is sweet. Miss Chain herself has a perfectly affable perky


pop voice. OK, she may hit flat notes occasionally but overall, she’s just fine. Along with her all male Broken Heels, she delivers short, sharp, hooky,


rhythmic, largely solo- free pop songs that sound like 1966 garage meets ’78-79 new wave with some girl group lip service. The only drop in


consistency is the final track – an acoustic number called ‘Save Me’ which is brave but unsuccessful. The other 11 cuts however are sublime. Trebly


guitar driven tunes like ‘Beginning Of The End’, ‘Roller Coaster’ and ‘Mary Anne’ are beautiful, breezy pop nuggets. Over its 29 minutes, it reminded me strongly of


how ’60s pop was interpreted in the ’80s. Elements of Nicky & The Corvettes and The Shivvers are clearly discernable. Far from bittersweet, this is a delicious, jangly ride and I wanna go on it again… now! Paul Martin


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