Black Lizard “Solarize” (Soliti, 2015)

http://blacklizardmusic.bandcamp.com/album/solarize

On Solarize, Black Lizard’s newest and finest release to date [a release that too sadly will force nearly everyone into purchasing as a download only] we find the band more than knee-deep in etherial psychedelic washes which sound eerily familiar … and in a more than pleasant manner, delivering a fuzzed out groove that will rock you back as hazy memories of Spacemen 3, early Vacant Lots, Chatham Rise, and a host of others drift in and out of focus.  By no means should one see this as a distraction, as this is one of the finest releases I’ve ever heard that unassumingly pays homage to the founding fathers of the neo-psychedelic wave, and to those who’ve managed to maintain the values necessary for its continued progression, all the while, owning every note they play, and every lyric they sing … creating an atmosphere that will keep this album within easy reach for those of us inclined to step off into the darkness, returning in the morning, and sleeping late into the afternoon.

There are no afterthoughts to be found here, the album is precise, clean, calculated for effect, and delivered with a sustained energy that will place in your hands, exactly what you want floating through your head.  The lysergic lyrics are a bit of a mysterious delight, though with the trance-like effect of the music, one finds it difficult to focus on those vocals, as an interlacing of wondrous emancipation takes place, and the shimmering intoxication of hallucinatory undefined visual and audible edges melt all around, morphing into a breathless musical state of being. 

I’ve been waiting a very long time for this …

*** There was so little physical product for this outing that I imagine the band will see small financial rewards, and that’s a sincere shame, as the album will be swapped from one person to another without delivering unto the band the mere $6 they ask for the download.  If you wanna keep dynamic groups like this working, surviving, and delivering more of this eternal music, then you’ve got to step up and support them.