On their latest record, Lunar Gardens, Possum proves itself to be a major significant force within the current psychedelic rock universe.
Hailing from Toronto, Possum has shown a great deal of growth since 2019’s Space Grade Assembly. They surf through the common ground shared between cosmic jazz, Krautrock and psychedelic pop with surprising ease. The unique hybrid sound that the band concocted here is extremely heady, yet enchantingly accessible.
“Guest of The Moon,” for instance, features a jazz-fusion groove that flows into supernova funk riffs, and yet the song maintains a pleasing melody, with enticing hooks and sweet harmonies. It’s a total esoteric freak-out, complete with Hendrixian wah-wah guitars and rippling keyboard work, but the track retains enough of a pop sensibility to be attractive to a fairly wide spectrum of listeners. This quality of Possum’s music is highly reminiscent of Garcia Peoples, even though the two bands have vastly different sounds. Yet, much like New Jersey’s undefeated psych champions, the band can stretch out into tight interstellar jams that totally redefines all notions of acid rock. Check out “Moonjuice” for a fine example of that.)
Elsewhere on the album, the band launches into airy Return to Forever-meets-Dead Meadow sonic trips (“Heywood Floyd”), twisted third-eye sermons (“Gala at the Universe City”) and ghostly lysergic jazz-folk meanderings (“Luna Gardens”). On every track, no matter what style they lean into the most in that moment, Possum is able to conjure up a sound that is the aural equivalent of the dazzling liquid light show pictured on the cover artwork.
If your record collection has the latest Garcia Peoples’ album and plenty of well-worn LPs by the likes of Mahavishnu Orchestra, Boogarins and Hawkwind, then you need Lunar Gardens in your life. Click here to get your copy from Idée Fixe Records today.
-KH
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