Review: The Psychic Alliance - Evil Against Evil

I suppose like everyone else music affects me in different ways; some albums have me slack jawed with admiration, some excite and enthrall and some are...well...just so damned enjoyable. 'Evil Against Evil' falls firmly in the latter category - I can't remember when I've enjoyed an album so much.....and I'm talking about that 'smile on face, head nodding' enjoyment rather than that visceral enjoyment of something like, say, Blown Out. The Psychic Alliance are a Canadian band, working out of Vancouver and 'Evil Against Evil' is their third album, this time around being released via the ace NoiseAgonyMayhem label. The album is "fuzzy west coast psych that incorporates some of the harder elements of subsequent genres and bands like The Stooges and MC5 and Black Sabbath. It also plays pretty hard to the British songwriting tradition, referencing stuff like Ray Davies, Bowie, et al" ...I'm hooked.

Opening with the instrumental title track with its slowed down Munsters theme-like twanging guitars before segueing into the short but sweet sixties-a-go-go garage stormer 'No Fixed Address'. It is full of Farfisa like keyboards and swinging guitars...and as will become evident throughout the album...it's all delivered with a snotty attitude, albeit with a wry smile on the face. 'Nice People' is an offbeat number embedded in British sixties psychedelia and while it may come across as a quirky pop song it is lyrically scathing and musically complex - taking in a variety of genres and approaches in a three and a half minute song. 'Julia Peculiar' sounds like a lysergically charged spy movie soundtrack as performed by Sparks...it seems as though with every passing song the enjoyment factor rises exponentially. 'Crystal Cage' is the first single and is a groovy mean'n'moody garage track and sounds straight from the eighties garage rock revival scene but with added Cramps. 'The Octopus Is Sad' is another 'quirky' track (I put quirky in apostrophes because when you really listen to the song it's not quirky at all...just put together with a sense of mischief.) Again, it has a distinctly British feel about the vocals and the music...I think that's a good thing but then, hey, I would. 'Yesteryear' is probably my favourite track...full of psychedelic guitar and jazzy drums and all performed at a fair lick. At times it sounds West Coast Psych while others it could have come from the 'Hair' soundtrack before falling back into movie score territory. 'Great God Pan' comes across as a cheesy flamenco/lounge act...it genuinely had me smiling..and then some heavy guitars come in like Sabbath playing the Kon-Tikis. When the vocals arrive the tone of the song changes once again and becomes almost glam with its harmonies and guitar licks (and I see now where the Bowie reference comes in, at times it is very 'Man Who Sold The World' album fare). 'I Saw An Aquatic Rat Today' (nope!) sees the return of the twanging guitar in a routine surf number made all the more interesting with some warbling synths. The album is closed with the album's magnum opus 'Maggie Malone', nearly 10 minutes in length and is freakin' great. Initially setting out as another surf number it makes a veer towards 'horror' with talk of werewolves and female howls in the background. The organ gives proceeding an authentic fifties/sixties feel and overall sounds like an extended cut from the ace 'Wavy Gravy' compilations (and if you are not au fait with them, go investigate). There are sections of groovy extended heavily reverbed guitar before it all ends in a Hammer House climax.

Two things become evident after listening to this album....one is that garage rock is definitely alive and well (as if to prove my post the other week totally wrong) - this, along with the album from fellow Canadians The Intelligence Service and the NYC based The Mad Doctors, have really breathed new life into the genre. The other thing is that The Psychic Alliance are a bunch of fucking clever dudes. They have taken accepted genres/styles/call them what you will and subverted them to their own ends. It's all performed with a knowing smirk on the face, as if we are privy to some inside joke, but...and it's a big but (?) it is musically captivating and...well...enjoyable. Lyrically it is erudite and, at times, cutting and it is this that makes the album what it is....a damn fine one. 'Evil Against Evil' can be streamed and purchased digitally via their Bandcamp page here or the vinyl can be scored by emailing the band directly at thepsychicalliance@gmail. Below the 'Crystal Cage' video is a visual version of the album.