Pspyched (pronounced "spiked") collects tracks from Beggars Banquet's psychedelic post-punk acts from the late '80s and early '90s, including relatively obscure acts like Polyphemus, Sundial, and the Del-Byzanteens. Heavy tracks like Ripe's "Plastic Hassle" and
Thee Hypnotics' "Justice in Freedom" allude to these group's roots in garage-psych, while the Icicle Works' "One Time" and Polyphemus' "Scrapbook of Madness" take a jangly, pop approach to psychedelia. Most interesting, however, are the groups that reinvent psych-rock rather than preserve it;
Rollerskate Skinny's "Bow Hitchhiker,"
Mercury Rev's "Young Man's Stride," and Shady's "Sugar, Sugar, Sugar" have just the right blend of melody, noise, and weirdness to qualify as futuristic psych-rock.
Pspyched is a fine collection of underrated Beggar's Banquet artists, as well as a portrait of an overlooked style of underground music. ~ Heather Phares