ninehertz

Brain Pills are an appealing proposition, a meeting of minds between the man of a million psych bands Mike Vest and Adam Stone of the unhinged Poundland, with the trio rounded off by Nick Raybould of Thought Bubble. How will the lush psych waves hold up against a razor blade attack sheering its edges?

Their second album Goatshead II provides a resounding answer, a combination that is electrifying in its best moments. Its potent concoction has similarities to another recent Vest project – Non-Violence – in its wild, raw and free approach.

Early on you sense its rambling, slightly crazed nature as strange, sloppy psych begins to veer off in two directions at once, elements of noise-rock and a surprising sleazy occult doom feel battling for attention. There are similarities to fellow North-East mob Louse, and more so my thoughts turn to Machiavellian Art’s static scarred wild psychedelia as another reference point.

It isn’t as dense or acid-minded as many of Vest’s other works, instead creating truly intriguing passages in its hazy airs and inherent discordancy. The album tails off a little towards its end, but before then it has frequent moments that grab you and shake you – whether through wailing vocals set to a droning repetition, or the changes of pace that lurch from doom-set to swinging outbursts. Overall, it is that free and manic approach that stays with you, a record that feels like pure riotously raw garage psych chaos.