Album Review: The Richmond Sluts - "Psychoactive Sounds"

 

Named after the Richmond district of San Francisco which they hail from, my initial thoughts from the band name were that the Richmond Sluts would be a group of old school Thunders/Joneses devotees with the requisite sneered vocals, scuzzy riffs and punk attitude. As it turned out I was very wrong but the reality isn't bad either.

Basically what we're dealing with here is an American take on the whole latter day pub rock formula with tight rhythms, drawled vocals and Small Faces keyboards combining to give Psychoactive Sounds an air of smoky cool. If you remember early '80s r'n'b pub rockers the Inmates then think a Californian version and you're not too far off. Tunes like Top Of The Night and the intergalactic themed A Push cruise by with the rhythms to make your toe tap and bring a smile to your face.

There's times such as on Killin' Eyes where the vocals here sound almost like some sort of weird cross between Bryan Ferry's lounge lizard croon and Lee Brilleaux's gravel-voiced snarl which really shouldn't work but somehow it does. Elsewhere, Satisfaction (I Want You) and What You Gonna Do Now? are menace-laden slices of attitude and Third Eye goes into the murky end of the garage that the 13th Floor Elevators used to hang out in. They go even further into psychedelic waters on Used with its woozy sitars while the loose groove of Foolish Romance reminds me of the Chesterfield Kings which is never a bad thing. 

Quite honestly, I'm amazed these guys aren't on Wicked Cool as they've got exactly the sort of mix of '60s influenced suss (there's definitely a nod to the Animals and the Doors in their sound as well) and pop melodies that's the trademark of a lot of the bands on Little Steven's label but they definitely deserve to bring their sound to a bigger audience and on the evidence of Psychoactive Sounds, if there's any justice then it's a question of when rather than if it happens.

Bandcamp Link

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑 (8/10)

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