Like the best bands, the best records may exist in a world away from the one that the rest of us inhabit. If the ideal live band experience is watching a gang of guitar-slinging adventurers from another dimension, world or time strut their stuff, inviting the audience into another realm for the duration of the set, then the best records can envelop the listener in a similar way. Its space travel powered merely by music.
And I mention this only because Dreaming From Elsewhere, the new long-player from Shockpowder can do this. As the title suggests, the mission statement is one of exploring other worlds, in this case, the power of dreams, and it is in such heavenly harmonies and hallucinogenic haze that the album encases the listener.
As a compilation of all the songs that Shockpowder has released over the last few years, it is when all of these songs are brought together as a collection that they are at their most potent and poignant. This is an album that is more than the sum of its parts.
There are some excellent reference points, especially the nods to the acid-laced soundscapes of classic shoegazery—listen to the cavernous sheens of “Human” and tell me that you don’t immediately make a mental note to give your old Ride and Slowdive albums a spin. “Talking to Plants” shows a more traditional side to the music as it engages enough with the classic rock and roll vibe to head into some brilliant US college rock sounds.
But by and large, this is a wonderfully original album. Sure you can see where it has been in terms of influence and inspiration but it is where it takes us that is the real charm.
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