Seattle Subsonic

Night Beats

May 28th, 2010

There are quite a few bands these days making false appropriations of those classic late 60s/early 70s hard rock pioneers we all love so much (Led Zeppelin, the Doors, Hendrix, 13th Floor Elevators, etc.). Night Beats is not one of those bands. Guitarist/vocalist Danny Rajan (whose voice recalls the Elevators’ great Roky Erickson) and his Texas-born buddies are clearly enamored with anything that hearkens back to the days when the blues were the actual provenance for those illustrious hard rock demi-gods. But, bathed in liquid psychedelia and molten metal, the band seems to have astutely distilled any potentially-flammable frills from their blistering tunes, leaving only the essential nuts and bolts of hard drivin’, boot stompin’, head trippin’ psych rock. This, they do well.

Fans of BRMC, the Black Angels, and the Raveonettes will find much to relish with this low-profile outfit. Unfortunately, I don’t yet have a record to set on the turn table, illuminate the lava lamp, and smoke myself into a sweet, spinning psychedelic sedation, but I do have this new video to get me (us) started. It’s filmed in stylish Super 8 graininess and takes place in the desert, the one place where gimmick-less hallucinatory adventures are sure to occur. Sounds entirely appropriate. Word on the street is that an EP (H-Bomb) from the Seattle-based trio will be available in July. Start your engine now.