Five to see at Liverpool Psych Fest 2015

DESTRUCTION UNIT

This is where it gets loud. Something of an anomaly for Psych Fest, Arizona’s Destruction Unit draw as much from the driving rush of 80s hardcore and the bleakness of minimalist post-punk as they do from droning, spacey chaos. Locking into repetitive grooves, punctured by furious squalls of feedback and ear-drenching explosions of sound, they’re a viscerally exhausting experience, but one helluva good time. Essentially, if the idea of The Dicks smashing up Joy Division records in the eye of a hurricane appeals to you, then Sacred Bones’ noisiest sons are the band you’ve been waiting for.

NOVELLER

Sarah Lipstate’s music is almost painfully beautiful. Sculpting vast, expansive tundras of sound from hypnotic ambient passages, she effortlessly weaves together the softest of electronic hums with the most savage of guitar textures, somehow managing to temper the harshness without losing its power. A former collaborator of both Rhys Chatham and Glenn Branca, Lipstate is primarily a filmmaker: the essence of these factoids is apparent in her skilful ear for cinematic composition, as she maps out rich landscapes with the deftest of simple touches. Reminiscent of Windy & Carl at their most blissed-out, Noveller’s fine art is undoubtedly one of Psych Fest’s best secrets.

STRANGE COLLECTIVE

One of the local acts on this year’s lineup, Strange Collective’s star has risen quickly thanks to a fine ear for an off-kilter melody and a tendency to blast out oddball garage rock like their lives depended on it. Pitched somewhere between the searing blast of Thee Oh Sees, the caterwauling clang of Black Lips and a resolute sense of the outré, they’re a kick in the balls of Liverpool’s famed history for psych-pop: a grittier, more frazzled version of rock’n’roll than Merseybeat could have possibly seen on the horizon. Not to be missed.

BONNACONS OF DOOM

Volume. Exhilaration. Sensory overload. There’s three things you can look forward to for starters from this shadowy bunch of Mersey noisemakers. And ‘noise’ is the watchword: gargantuan roars of the stuff will knock you sideways as they veer between atonal drone, discordant electronic chaos and motorik lunacy, all piled together amidst thunderous riffs. This is molten heaviosity at its most graceful – versatile enough to survive collaboration with Liverpool Cathedral choir, yet packing a muscular punch that’s guaranteed to leave you reeling. Fillings will rattle, foundations will quake and an awful lot of people are going to emerge shaken yet enraptured.

PZYKMIX +0.1 | Bonnacons Of Doom by Liverpool Psych Fest on Mixcloud

PINKSHINYULTRABLAST

St Petersburg’s Pinkshinyultrablast are a revelation. Harnessing the reverb-drenched fug of shoegaze and welding it to the shimmering soundscapes of The Cure’s masterpiece Disintegration, they reframe modern psych as something more than merely drone and repetition: this is immersive pop that glistens and pulls you in, even as its far-away melodies keep you at arm’s length. Elements of Slowdive, Chapterhouse and the Cocteau Twins intersperse with compositional textures to demonstrate a real mastery of their art – a star on the rise, showing no indication of slowing its ascent. In need of a new favourite band? Here’s your solution.