The Blank Tapes, “Exotica” (Brown Truck Records)
Down in California, they grow long-haired, neo-psych-rock dudes by the hundreds. Seeing how lucrative [cough] an example the Brian Jonestown Massacre had set, hordes of skinny white boys have been firing up their Rickenbackers, making their axes sound like sitars, and writing gently trippy midtempo rock songs by the thousands. Some of them are even good enough to send ripples of joy through your dashiki-clad torso. Count the Blank Tapes‘ Matt Adams as one of the better practitioners of this enduring style.
On the new Super Bloom EP (available on Bandcamp and cassette), Adams writes songs that exude a mellow-golden aura, its guitars subtly shimmered to induce a sundown shiver. He wants to give listeners a peaceful, easy feeling—without making you think of the Eagles. And that’s commendable.
It’s tough to pick a favorite on Super Bloom, but right now “Exotica” is doing the best job of saturating my sensorium with the most potent lysergic vibes. Adams’s singing-in-a-tin-can vocals warble amid purple plumes of wah-wah guitar melisma and the spiraling guitar solo that pierces the firmament halfway through recalls Stacy Sutherland ca. 13th Floor Elevators’ Easter Everywhere or Bull of the Woods.
If you dig Tim Presley’s White Fence, Jack Name, Mike Donovan, Jacco Gardner, Morgan Delt, and artists of that ilk, you’ll want to ingest special substances to the Blank Tapes.
The Blank Tapes perform Sunday, June 2 at the Sunset Tavern with Powerbleeder and Secret Superpower.
