Our psychedelic trip-sitting rulers are back with yet another journey of an album that fans will surely welcome with open arms.
The thing with the Psychedelic Porn Crumpets is that they continue to evolve, but you can always find hints of the past in their music. For those that fell in love right from the beginning with hits like Cornflake and Found God in a Tomato, this latest release Night Gnomes may seem a step, leap and a jump away from where they began, however, if you listen closely, the band we know and love are still very much present, just with a touch more fuzz and dash more surrealism. The band themselves view their latest album, Night Gnomes, as a summary of their songwriting journey so far.
Looking at this album from a bird's eye view, it is easy to see how some may view this album as a somewhat confusing jumble of sounds and influences, however, viewing this album as a summary of their discography is a far more eye-opening approach.
The slightly darker standout tracks like Lava Lamp Pisco and Acid Dent carry some strong riffing from guitarist Luke Parish which must be applauded. These tracks bring back memories of their third album And Now for the Whatchamacallit. On the other hand, the slightly more trance-like psychedelica of Dread and Butter and Slinky / Holy Water hark back to their early days with High Visceral. Although not crowd hits, to consider these tracks simply as filler would be ignorant. These tracks demonstrate the true versatility of a still relatively young band who are masters in their field.
Other standout tracks like Bubblegum Infinity are within the same lighthearted vein as their last album Shyga! The Sunlight Mound whereas Bob Holiday gives us a more prominent vocal approach than other tracks, perhaps something we can expect more of in the future.
Keeping in mind how the band view this album, would it be premature of us to then view this album as a closing of a chapter for them? The future of the Psychedelic Porn Crumpets is bright, it's trippy, it's surreal, and it's fully in their hands. © Jessica Porter-Langson / Qobuz