Chamber of Sound

STRANGE LOT

Do you like The Black Angels? Do you like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club? If yes, then congratulations, I have your new favorite band. Strange Lot is among the latest crop of Austin, TX’s roster of top-tier psychedelic rockers. They not only do their city proud, but they proved last night that they have the chops to do their aforementioned forebears proud, too. I’m not sure how Austin ended up as the Ivy League equivalent for psychedelic rock, but the consistency of the city’s legendary output has proven for decades that it’s a well-earned, unrivaled moniker. 

Originally an Arizona-based bedroom project for singer and guitarist Dominic Mena, the band has since evolved to include drummer Tim Lormor, bassist Levi Murray, and guitarist/synth extraordinaire Jordan Fitzpatrick.

With the exception of Fitzpatrick, the band emerged on stage all wearing sunglasses, in my estimation, to protect their eyes from the possibility of interdimensional displays of blinding light seeping into our reality through tears in the fabric of space and time caused by their shredding. Because if their set was any indication of what they’re capable of, that seems like it was a distinct possibility.

Strange Lot first and foremost knows how to rock the fuck out and rock out loud. It’s not the candy-paint, playful psychedelia of the flower children. It’s more big riffs, heavy grooves, and droning melodies that evoke the feeling of navigating an impossibly vast desert at night on a mission from God than rolling in the daisies and laughing. More Kyuss, less MGMT. It’s intense, and it's big. But most importantly, it’s pretty damn awesome.

The band is set to release new music later this year, which is fantastic news for everyone because I’m itching for a full-length or EP. This is a band that I’m very glad to have caught at the outset of their journey, and I’m excited to see where they land.

MELODY’S ECHO CHAMBER

French musician Melody Prochet is the mastermind behind the musical project Melody’s Echo Chamber. Emerging onto the scene immediately following the successful release of the project’s self-titled debut album, produced by Kevin Parker of Tame Impala, Prochet has carved out a consistent career exploring a vast array of soundscapes and collaborating with top-tier musicians across the globe. First crossing paths with Parker while supporting Tame Impala in her previous band My Bee Garden, Prochet eventually sought his services to help actualize her new project. From there, she’s continued to produce a strong body of distinctively dreamy compositions, exploring a wide swath of genre influences over the last decade and a half. And all of this, following the release of her fourth album, Unclouded, last year, was on full display Wednesday night at Union Transfer.

Melody’s Echo Chamber has proven to have consistently strong musical longevity via Prochet’s fearless exploration of anything and everything across an unlimited musical landscape. The project successfully blends alternative, funk, jazz, neo-soul, and pretty much every rock-adjacent genre you can imagine through a lens of psychedelia. Seeing and hearing Prochet and her band on stage brings to mind so many different influences immediately and simultaneously including the likes of Lush, Ride, Pulp, Sneaker Pimps, Thievery Corporation, DJ Shadow, and on and on. It’s a vast array of sounds kept connected by the thread of Prochet’s dreamy vocals and a consistent style rooted in the deeply trance-inducing, dreamlike vibes unique to the world of psychedelic rock.

Backed by drummer Malcolm Catto, bassist Benjamin Glibert, guitarist Reine Fiske, and guitarist Jérôme Pichon, Prochet and her band took the stage with an immediate display of unmatched musical talent. From the jazzy explorations on drums to the effects-heavy guitar freakouts to bass grooves that climbed to frets higher than I knew could be played, the dynamic among members was a powerful display of locked-in, sonic musical possession. Each member of the band was tapped into some intangible stream of grooving that remained fully intact for the duration of the evening. Is dream-dancing a thing? Because that’s what Prochet and co. conjured amongst the crowd. They crafted an atmosphere in which freedom to just absolutely vibe out swallowed the room and summoned a collective state of becoming one with the music.

Providing soundscapes that alternated between feeling like I was being blasted through outer space at impossible speeds to late nights in the city streets of a 60s retro-futurist alternative reality, the music consistently evoked a strong sense of wandering imagination. It’s like doing drugs without the drugs. I’m not sure what the scientific explanation is for how specific sounds affect the brain in such targeted and particular ways, but the trippiness musical gene is an itch I love to scratch. I felt like I was listening to a slightly anachronistic soundtrack to a 1960s arthouse film about ruminations on love, life, existentialism, and death. An acid trip lullaby for the senses.

All in all, this show reinforced the mysterious and ethereal power of art and music. To experience something on such a fundamental level and be moved time and time again is my favorite part of doing this.

So if you’re looking for a night of musical excellence, “dancing with myself” vibes,  downtempo club grooves, and psych-funk explosions, look no further. Melody and the gang have got your back.