most striking thing about this to me is how well read in the history of psych music it is. by which I mean, it is nominally neo-psych and certainly fits within that AnCo & friends mold more often than not, but very often VanGaalen will veer into more classic 60s british psych rock sounds, pseud-grateful dead melodies, 80s psychedelic synth music, and any other manner of tidbits from the broad history of psychedelic music. this is kind of its greatest strength for me in that VanGaalen does at the very least a convincing emulation of each of these periods of psych (if not a pleasantly original take on the trends), but also a weakness in that the album kind of lacks focus for me; this is like 45 years worth of ideas crammed into a box that could've comfortably fit maybe 15 of those years. also doesn't help he's not lyrically half as interesting as most of his influences. also also (and this is more just a point of personal preference) I much prefer VanGaalen's take on 1969 psychedelia than I do his take on 2009 psychedelia, though again he seems perfectly at home in either mode, albeit not always in a way I find particularly engaging. I do appreciate this album was clearly helmed by someone with a genuine and deep love for the broader history of psych music, which really just makes me wish I like this more than I do, because rn I'm feeling kinda neutral leaning on lightly positive, but also intrigued enough to wanna check out this guy's backcatalogue. almost feel like I have an obligation to listen to more of his stuff given how much I know I would've been all about this shit like a decade ago lol _________________ A Variety of Artists
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KitchenSink
