Sufis Inventing The Past

Nashville duo The Sufis are truly a band out of time. Their latest record Inventions (out through Ample Play and Burger Records) swings along like a loopy psych pop peyote hiccup, all Syd Barrett and Beatles silly whimsy, so light it floats up and down the waves like sonic flotsam, perishables that will eventually wash up on the shore and adorn someone's mantelpiece for generations. Seriously, can you think of anything that sounds so distilled from a different age? An alien fossil unearthed by an earthquake; a message in a bottle from the Mary Celeste; Inventions is a time capsule from something that may never be real, imagined or explained. It simply exists, an echo of a time that may or may not have taken place. It's disorienting, isn't it? Still, if you are going to mirror the greats, you may as well be indistinguishable from them.

Inventions comes out next week - pre-order it here.

A Day On A Remote Island's Heaven

Picked this EP up from Crawf over at Tome To The Weather Machine. The band is Philadelphia's Remote Islands (or more accurately, Colin Pate and a revolving door of mates), whose Days Of Heaven EP is an interesting mix of folk and experimental intricacy. For whatever reason I got a mixture of Mercury Rev, Neil Young and Syd Barrett when listening to this. The multitude of instruments on display, including banjo, mandolin, upright bass, Wurlitzer, flute, cello (the list is goddamned extensive), combined with the lo-fi production, creates an otherworldly sound, something that is orchestral and baroque in the way Modest Mouse might have been in the 1800s (see 'The Story Of Chairs'), yet with a lot of synth disco influences flooding through the veins (see 'Landau/Midlands' and 'There's A Cost Associated'). I was supposed to be marking dissertations - I instead ate a spinach and feta foccacia, drank two coffees, and threw balled up pieces of scrap paper at the bin - for about an hour. A true procrastinatory tool - obtusely fascinating, strikingly unfamiliar, yet altogether attractive.

Harking Back To The Paperhead

The Paperhead are a Nashville collective that have just released their debut album from the Trouble in Mind label, and at first listen it's like listening to one of your dad's warped records from 1968 that has been forgotten about and gathering dust. Add to this that the trio average 18 years of age, and you have some amazing (in)authenticity here. I know I often harp on about people sounding like others and how that can be detrimental - hey, I said it about one of the world's hottest bands, Cults, only yesterday - but here The Paperhead sound energised. Possibly haunted by the spirit of Syd Barrett or the halycon days when The Beatles were parallel time travellers, The Paperhead is so strong, its warm, effects-laden, dreamy psychedelia almost an affront to the band's youth and the state of today's music. The understanding between these three is also astounding.

Yet this could be the end - the three members putting The Paperhead to one side so as to attend college. Let's hope its not for long. Sure, they have already collared a sound that stands shoulder to shoulder with the genre's best, and we can all be happy with that - but as with all music addicts, we want more, damn it!

You can buy The Paperhead here.

The Paperhead - Back To Those Days
The Paperhead - Let Me Know

The Father of Gods Makes A Musical Menagerie

Zeus, the Greek god of Gods. Ruler of Mt Olympus. God of the sky. Bearer of the thunderbolt. About to be played by Liam Neeson. Very now, in the then.

Zeus, the Toronto four piece. Melders of extreme influences - Fleetwood Mac, The Kinks, Syd Barrett, John and Paul. Purveyors of immaculate denim and moustaches a la The Band. Very then, in the now.

Zeus are (as is the way right now) splashing South By South West in sepia tones and fire tinged edges, in their first stage of taking over the world and dragging it back 30 years, into a world of 'classical' rock pop. Chaperoned by Broken Social Scene collaborator and influential singer/songwriter Jason Collett, the band, the core dreamings of kindred spirits Mike O'Brien and Carlin Nicholson, Zeus aim to bridge the Pro Tools era of now to the days of achingly simple harmonies and 45s. The guys dont have plans to tour Europe or the UK any time soon - slowly but surely - but it certainly is refreshing (?) hearing these vintage sounds in such a lovingly and engaging manner.

Zeus - The Sound of You

Zeus - Marching Through Your Head from Arts & Crafts on Vimeo.