Bed Rugs – 8th Cloud (2014) review
Bed Rugs “8th Cloud” (Ample Play, 2014)
Similar to what I wrote about a fantastic Kelley Stoltz
single released earlier this year, one of the things I like about Bed Rugs is
that they don’t really sound like anybody else. Sure, there’s a couple songs
from 8th Cloud that if I didn’t know better and you told me it was Grandaddy, I
wouldn’t blink; same way that one track from Bed Rugs’ superb Rapids EP is a
dead ringer for My Bloody Valentine. But when you listen to them you don’t
spend the whole time playing the ho-hum game of spot the reference. The
instrumental backing on the dazzling space rock track “Dream On” could be Air
from Moon Safari, but the vocal melody and style take the song to its own
unique space. The squirmy, quirky “Purple Pill” is an instant classic of
contemporary psych pop. “Evening Crusade” and “Mark’s Ghost” both feature
gorgeous vocals. There’s not a bum selection on the album (there wasn’t on the
EP, either) and there’s an easy handful you’d be comfortable singling out to
include on your new mixtape. They’re equally comfortable stretching out to do
trippy dirges as they are banging away at sonically pleasing assaults. I expect fans of both Tame Impala and Temples
will like Bed Rugs but, again, the Belgians don’t sound like either of those
acts really; they just sound like themselves.
single released earlier this year, one of the things I like about Bed Rugs is
that they don’t really sound like anybody else. Sure, there’s a couple songs
from 8th Cloud that if I didn’t know better and you told me it was Grandaddy, I
wouldn’t blink; same way that one track from Bed Rugs’ superb Rapids EP is a
dead ringer for My Bloody Valentine. But when you listen to them you don’t
spend the whole time playing the ho-hum game of spot the reference. The
instrumental backing on the dazzling space rock track “Dream On” could be Air
from Moon Safari, but the vocal melody and style take the song to its own
unique space. The squirmy, quirky “Purple Pill” is an instant classic of
contemporary psych pop. “Evening Crusade” and “Mark’s Ghost” both feature
gorgeous vocals. There’s not a bum selection on the album (there wasn’t on the
EP, either) and there’s an easy handful you’d be comfortable singling out to
include on your new mixtape. They’re equally comfortable stretching out to do
trippy dirges as they are banging away at sonically pleasing assaults. I expect fans of both Tame Impala and Temples
will like Bed Rugs but, again, the Belgians don’t sound like either of those
acts really; they just sound like themselves.
Review made by Brian Greene/2014
© Copyright http://psychedelicbaby.blogspot.com/2014
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