The new album from Birmingham’s Solar Eyes takes them onto a whole new level of twisted freakbeat. Amy Britton reviews…

If ever there was an album title that let us know what a wild ride we are in for , its “Live Freaky! Die Freaky!” If Birmingham’s Solar Eyes’ eponymous debut album lay a foundation for their role as new faces of British psychedelia, then its safe to say this follow-up album swirls about on said foundation in a hazy freak-out and gets all its weird mates to join in while its about it. The title is, in fact, lifted from a 2006 black comedy stop-motion animation inspired by the Manson family, and that is a theme shared by the film and this record. Those who’ve heard lead single Murdering Hippies , inspired by watching “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” , will certainly have had a sense of the whole album – opening the record, it sets the mind-bending scene perfectly.

This feeling is maintained throughout on an album that frequently feels like a sonic version of a glance through a kaleidoscope, with hypnotic tracks such as I See The Sun and Time Waits For No One winding like a sunlit whirlpool. Of course, behind this bright, neon world are the constant suggestions of something much darker consistently lurking beneath like an undercurrent. This sense certainly seems to peak around the middle of the record, after the deeply melodic A Couple Of Kisses has given way to Your Love Is Like A Drug, with its references to a “zombie trance”, against almost cultish chants echoing the darker side of Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd. This is kind of a narcotic-themed double bill on the album, being followed by Speedball Lovers, its handclaps and unflinching lyrical theme pulling in and commanding the listener. With the former of these two tracks also referencing “waiting for the man,” there’s certainly also echoes of the Velvet Underground there, which can also be heard sonically throughout, especially on the squalls of fuzz of No River On The Horse which throws the broad sound wide open.

There’s less obvious influences too – Set The Night On Fire and Rubiks Cube even incorporating a spaghetti Western vibe – but they never lose sight of a cohesive sound – or the theme. Mr Magpie’s aural hints of something Eastern and exotic broods with mysticism, seeming to echo the occultist through sound alone, and slower-paced closer Hello Charlie brings everything full circle. Crucially, the Manson family have far too often been glamourised as counterculture icons, Solar Eyes manage to swerve this tastelessness by keeping them as an lyrical theme, rather than a glorified inspiration. A bold and dizzying album which should sees Solar Eyes climbing into the next level.

Order Live Freaky! Die Freaky! and find more from Solar Eyes on their Bandcamp https://solareyesuk.bandcamp.com/album/solar-eyes

All words by Amy Britton. Find more on here archive https://louderthanwar.com/author/amy-britton