Crystal Antlers – Two Way Mirror

After a favourably received debut album and EP it was uncertain as to whether these Californian acid-revivalists could ever best it. But, in attempting to do so, they have created an oddity: an album with the colour and vibrancy of psychedelia yet not confined to a single point in time, sounding both immediate and like a biography of 20th century rock.

Fortune Telling takes a mellow, moonlit stride that would make it an apt soundtrack to a night at the drive-in with your honey, while the title track even takes a sidestep from its steamrolling rock goodness to switch briefly to jangling surf-rock (sounding similar to Rock Lobster, oddly) but it slots together about as neatly as can be expected. Perhaps it’s the rollocking rhythms, or just Jonny Bell’s charismatic all-or-nothing approach to singing, but this is an album that simply knows how to have a good time. [David Bowes]