Opinion: The GOASTT is bringing back psychedelia with new album
April 29, 2014
In, 2014, the push for music with a psychedelic edge has appeared more and more. The Flaming Lips, who have been together since the 1980s, have always had a steady claim for psychedelic music.
The Black Angels have also been known to play around with a darker side of psychedelic in their rock ānā roll, and the Black Keys even have added their own psychedelic spin to their new upcoming album āTurn Blue.ā
But the band who is really shining through this psychedelic rock scene is the Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, or GOASTT. The band, founded in 2008, consists of musician Sean Lennon, son of the late John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and model-musician Charlotte Kemp Muhl.
The real-life couple released āAcoustic Sessionsā in 2010, an album full of harmonizing, playful folk songs. In 2011, the two covered Serge Gainsbourgās āComic Strip,ā along with electrified versions of previous songs on a limited released āLa Carotte Bleue.ā
Tuesday, the band released āMidnight Sun,ā which is full of post-modern psychedelic. With a voice very similar to his father, Sean makes songs like āAnimalsā and āXanaduā sound like theyāre missing tracks from the Beatlesā āMagical Mystery Tourā album.
The band is well-known for its use of a variety of unusual instruments and changing things up a bit.
Sean recently told Rolling Stone: āWe tend to mess around with our sound quite a bit. We mix things from far away or too close. We run them from pedals youāre not supposed to.ā
During the song āLast Call,ā I became confused as to whether I was listening to Pink Floyd or the GOASTT. Thereās something very Floyd-esque about the orchestral of it. The use of symbols, chimes and synthesizers are a major point throughout the album ,and you can see that on āDevil You Know,ā which could also pass for a Beatles song.
This album is definitely something different, new and exciting for music lovers of any kind. It can take you back to older generations of music or show you the new side of psychedelic rock. A sense of freedom is set within the album, giving the listener a chance to take a journey of magical bliss.
I know this album will help me relax through finals, and maybe it can help you pull through those all-nighters next week.
Itās time this genre of music makes a total comeback. Itās inviting and thrilling to listen to. Buy it on vinyl, CD or mp3 ā this is definitely a brilliant summer album.
I know I am more than excited to see the GOASTT in June at the Mountain Jam Festival in Hunter Mountain, New York.