The Mystery Lights — Too Much Tension! (May 10, 2019) 
⊂★⊃ V době, kdy se dost nažvanilo, že nejsou žádné dobré skupiny z NYC, když se polovina hudební scény rozpadla na slunnou Kalifornii, jsou Mystery Lights anomálií. Nejen, že tito odvážní mladí muži obrátili směr — optimisticky migrovali na východ proti proudu od západního pobřeží, ale navíc přistáli v zemi zrale červených jablek, aby se ponořili do akce a rozmanitosti New Yorku. Všichni sdílejí byt v Ridgewoodu v Queensu, jehož suterén se přestavěl na provizorní zkušební prostor. Sázky proti šanci žít v roce 2016 archetypickým hudebním životem v centru 20. století, i když nevyhnutelně dále na východ od mostu, hrají také s přesvědčením, bezprostředností a syrovou silou svých mocných předků — od Velvets po Voidoids a mimo. Mystery Lights jsou živým důkazem toho, že životně důležitá současná hudba, v tomto případě real~rock, rock’n’roll, můžou být snové konstrukce o performancích v Empire City uvedeny do skutečnosti.
⊂★⊃ Ukotvené hypnoticky propletené riffy kytaristů Mike Brandona a L. A. Solana debutového alba v písni „Follow Me Home“, rachotí kupředu a radostně se setkávají na pokraji plnohodnotného psychedelického freakoutu. Ale Brandonovy trhané, staccatem polomáčené vokály a subtilní popové tóny písně ho udržují pevně zakořeněného v tradici garáže šedesátých let a odvážného NYC punku. Již k minulému albu: „Skutečnost, že label se pouští do jiných žánrů, je vzrušující, protože všechno, co dělají, dělají to správně,“ říká Brandon magazínu Rolling Stone o tom, jak se spolupracuje s Daptone. „Skutečný deal, všechno analogově, všechno na pásech, ve studiu není vůbec žádný počítač a dělají všechno živě. Jejich přístup k nahrávání je přesně to, co bychom doufali u nahrávací společnosti. Dokážou skutečně zachytit ten čistý, nadčasový zvuk, který milujeme, a label řídí ti nejlepší lidé.“
⊂★⊃ Druhé album Mystery Lights v rockové pobočce společnosti Daptone — Wick Records, odhaluje, že skupina proniká ještě hlouběji do sféry svých eklektických vlivů a obohacuje jejich zvuk bez toho, aby se odrážela minulost. Mixuje tajuplné s přízračným, svým způsobem neodbytné syntetické zvuky skupin jako je The Normal and Suicide energií a jakýmsi naparováním se punkové zlaté éry, popové senzibility The Kinks a ostrého, rozvážného přednesu Television. Mystery Lights berou svou idiosynkratickou značku rock and rollu do nových, závratných výšek. Jejich strapped styl, jakoby někdo miloval mrskání řemenem s fuzzy riffy, horečnými perkusemi a velícími vokály, např. v písni „Someone Else Is in Control“ odráží vnitřní konflikt, který může pokračovat mezi malými démony v našich myslích, ty by mohly vést k depresi, úzkosti nebo šílenství. Ale není tomu tak. Při poslechu se nevracíme do 60s, hudba však zaručuje blažené pocity z ryzí kytarové hudby a dobové psychedelie. Album, které se dotýká zneužívání návykových látek, péče o sebe samého a uznání štěstí, až když je ztraceno, je hluboce vrstvenou, emotivní sbírkou, zahalenou do žhavé sonické jízdy. Album vyšlo také na černém a Limited Neon Splatter Vinylu.
Formed: 2006 in Salinas, CA
Location: Brooklyn, NYC
Styles: Alternative/Indie Rock, Garage Rock Revival
Album release: May 10, 2019
Recording Location:
⊃ Daptone Records’ House Of Soul
Record Label: Daptone/Wick Records
Duration: 31:10
Tracks:
01 Synthtro 0:46
02 I’m So Tired (Of Living in the City) 2:33
03 Can’t Get Through to My Head 2:43
04 Someone Else Is in Control 1:53
05 Goin’ Down 2:37
06 Wish That She’d Come Back 4:17
07 Thick Skin 4:08
08 Too Much Tension 2:16
09 Watching the News Gives Me the Blues 3:37
10 It’s Alright 2:51
11 Traces 3:29
Credits:
⊃ Zach Butler Drums
⊃ JJ Golden Mastering
⊃ Wayne Gordon Engineer, Mixing, Producer
⊃ The Mystery Lights Producer
⊃ Gabe Roth Executive Producer
⊃ Luis Alfonso Solano Cover Art, Guitar, Synthesizer
⊃ Neal Sugarman Executive Producer
AllMusic Review by Mark Deming; Score: ★★★★
⊂★⊃ The Mystery Lights are a band who live the the year 2019 by fate, not by choice. Their music suggests that arrived in the present day after passing through some wrinkle in time adorned with paisley; they are obsessed with ’60s garage rock and psychedelia, and their songs and their approach makes it clear they’ve done their homework when it comes to recreating the nuts and bolts of this stuff. The Mystery Lights’ third album, 2019’s Too Much Tension!, captures the sound of that halcyon era when America’s youth stopped playing “Louie Louie” and started abusing recreational drugs with a truly impressive accuracy, as if someone discovered a long~lost collaborative project with the Strawberry Alarm Clock, the Chocolate Watch Band, and the Seeds joining forces in the studio.
⊂★⊃ Too Much Tension! is the band’s second album for Wick Records, the rock offshoot of respected retro~soul label Daptone, and just as the Daptone House of Soul studio helps their acts capture a vintage sound, the same studio gives the fuzzy guitars, boomy bass, buzzy keyboards, and oddball electronic effects that dominate these arrangements a sonic personality that could have come out of some lost Pebbles anthology. You could accuse the Mystery Lights of being a bit short on originality, and you’d have a valid point, since nearly everything here has some antecedent in a scratchy piece of vinyl pressed five decades earlier. But the execution is nearly flawless, and they’re not only capable of playing this music in the classic style, they can write it nearly as well. Slip on your nehru jacket, turn on the black light, and turn up Too Much Tension! if you’re in the mood to travel back in time for about 31 minutes, with the Mystery Lights as your guides. ⊂★⊃ https://www.allmusic.com/
Website: http://themysterylights.com/
Label: https://shopdaptonerecords.com/
Bandcamp: https://themysterylights.bandcamp.com/album/too-much-tension
Description:
⊂★⊃ The Mystery Lights story begins in 2004 in the small town of Salinas California when friends Michael Brandon and Luis Alfonso — whose shared fondness for groups like The Mc5, Velvet Underground, Dead Moon, and The Fall (just to name a few) — decided to join forces and craft their own brand of unhinged rock and roll. From there they spent the better part of 10 years touring relentlessly before migrating to Queens New York in 2014.
⊂★⊃ With a live show known for its raw, visceral energy and relentless assault — leaving little to no stoppage between songs — they barreled through countless NYC haunts and DIY venues, quickly amassing a fervent local following. The buzz soon caught the attention of Daptone Records execs who were in the beginning stages of launching a new rock~centric imprint, Wick Records.
⊂★⊃ Impressed by the groups’ musicianship, groove, endless supply of energy, and understanding of musical history the Mystery Lights were quickly signed to Wick. Though a rock band at heart, the parallels to what Daptone Records had traditionally looked for in their Soul artists was undeniable. Soon sessions were booked with Producer/Engineer Wayne Gordon, and the release of their debut single “Too Many Girls” b/w “Too Tough to Bear” launched to mass critical fanfare.
⊂★⊃ Upon the release of their self~titled full~length on June 24th 2016 The Mystery Lights were quickly crowned “one of New York’s finest garage rock bands” by NME. Extensive touring, including multiple stops in Europe, Asia and Australia followed which found the group graduating from support slots at hole~in~the~wall clubs to headlining stages at major festivals worldwide.
⊂★⊃ After two years of break~neck, non~stop touring, the group settled back into Queens to prepare for their second full length record, “Too Much Tension” (out May 2019). With Wayne Gordon in the producer’s chair and several intense writing sessions under their belt the group were back at Daptone’s House of Soul and ready to track. While keeping the hard~hitting approach of the first LP, “TMT” finds the group digging deeper into their well of eclectic influences, enriching their sound while echoing the past. Mixing the eerie, insistent synth sounds of groups like The Normal and Suicide, the energy and swagger of punk’s golden age, the pop sensibility of The Kinks, and the stark, deliberate execution of Television — The Mystery Lights are taking their idiosyncratic brand of rock and roll to dizzying new heights.
______________________________________________
⊂★⊃ Ukotvené hypnoticky propletené riffy kytaristů Mike Brandona a L. A. Solana debutového alba v písni „Follow Me Home“, rachotí kupředu a radostně se setkávají na pokraji plnohodnotného psychedelického freakoutu. Ale Brandonovy trhané, staccatem polomáčené vokály a subtilní popové tóny písně ho udržují pevně zakořeněného v tradici garáže šedesátých let a odvážného NYC punku. Již k minulému albu: „Skutečnost, že label se pouští do jiných žánrů, je vzrušující, protože všechno, co dělají, dělají to správně,“ říká Brandon magazínu Rolling Stone o tom, jak se spolupracuje s Daptone. „Skutečný deal, všechno analogově, všechno na pásech, ve studiu není vůbec žádný počítač a dělají všechno živě. Jejich přístup k nahrávání je přesně to, co bychom doufali u nahrávací společnosti. Dokážou skutečně zachytit ten čistý, nadčasový zvuk, který milujeme, a label řídí ti nejlepší lidé.“
⊂★⊃ Druhé album Mystery Lights v rockové pobočce společnosti Daptone — Wick Records, odhaluje, že skupina proniká ještě hlouběji do sféry svých eklektických vlivů a obohacuje jejich zvuk bez toho, aby se odrážela minulost. Mixuje tajuplné s přízračným, svým způsobem neodbytné syntetické zvuky skupin jako je The Normal and Suicide energií a jakýmsi naparováním se punkové zlaté éry, popové senzibility The Kinks a ostrého, rozvážného přednesu Television. Mystery Lights berou svou idiosynkratickou značku rock and rollu do nových, závratných výšek. Jejich strapped styl, jakoby někdo miloval mrskání řemenem s fuzzy riffy, horečnými perkusemi a velícími vokály, např. v písni „Someone Else Is in Control“ odráží vnitřní konflikt, který může pokračovat mezi malými démony v našich myslích, ty by mohly vést k depresi, úzkosti nebo šílenství. Ale není tomu tak. Při poslechu se nevracíme do 60s, hudba však zaručuje blažené pocity z ryzí kytarové hudby a dobové psychedelie. Album, které se dotýká zneužívání návykových látek, péče o sebe samého a uznání štěstí, až když je ztraceno, je hluboce vrstvenou, emotivní sbírkou, zahalenou do žhavé sonické jízdy. Album vyšlo také na černém a Limited Neon Splatter Vinylu.
Formed: 2006 in Salinas, CA
Location: Brooklyn, NYC
Styles: Alternative/Indie Rock, Garage Rock Revival
Album release: May 10, 2019
Recording Location:
⊃ Daptone Records’ House Of Soul
Record Label: Daptone/Wick Records
Duration: 31:10
Tracks:
01 Synthtro 0:46
02 I’m So Tired (Of Living in the City) 2:33
03 Can’t Get Through to My Head 2:43
04 Someone Else Is in Control 1:53
05 Goin’ Down 2:37
06 Wish That She’d Come Back 4:17
07 Thick Skin 4:08
08 Too Much Tension 2:16
09 Watching the News Gives Me the Blues 3:37
10 It’s Alright 2:51
11 Traces 3:29
Credits:
⊃ Zach Butler Drums
⊃ JJ Golden Mastering
⊃ Wayne Gordon Engineer, Mixing, Producer
⊃ The Mystery Lights Producer
⊃ Gabe Roth Executive Producer
⊃ Luis Alfonso Solano Cover Art, Guitar, Synthesizer
⊃ Neal Sugarman Executive Producer
AllMusic Review by Mark Deming; Score: ★★★★
⊂★⊃ The Mystery Lights are a band who live the the year 2019 by fate, not by choice. Their music suggests that arrived in the present day after passing through some wrinkle in time adorned with paisley; they are obsessed with ’60s garage rock and psychedelia, and their songs and their approach makes it clear they’ve done their homework when it comes to recreating the nuts and bolts of this stuff. The Mystery Lights’ third album, 2019’s Too Much Tension!, captures the sound of that halcyon era when America’s youth stopped playing “Louie Louie” and started abusing recreational drugs with a truly impressive accuracy, as if someone discovered a long~lost collaborative project with the Strawberry Alarm Clock, the Chocolate Watch Band, and the Seeds joining forces in the studio.
⊂★⊃ Too Much Tension! is the band’s second album for Wick Records, the rock offshoot of respected retro~soul label Daptone, and just as the Daptone House of Soul studio helps their acts capture a vintage sound, the same studio gives the fuzzy guitars, boomy bass, buzzy keyboards, and oddball electronic effects that dominate these arrangements a sonic personality that could have come out of some lost Pebbles anthology. You could accuse the Mystery Lights of being a bit short on originality, and you’d have a valid point, since nearly everything here has some antecedent in a scratchy piece of vinyl pressed five decades earlier. But the execution is nearly flawless, and they’re not only capable of playing this music in the classic style, they can write it nearly as well. Slip on your nehru jacket, turn on the black light, and turn up Too Much Tension! if you’re in the mood to travel back in time for about 31 minutes, with the Mystery Lights as your guides. ⊂★⊃ https://www.allmusic.com/
Website: http://themysterylights.com/
Label: https://shopdaptonerecords.com/
Bandcamp: https://themysterylights.bandcamp.com/album/too-much-tension
Description:
⊂★⊃ The Mystery Lights story begins in 2004 in the small town of Salinas California when friends Michael Brandon and Luis Alfonso — whose shared fondness for groups like The Mc5, Velvet Underground, Dead Moon, and The Fall (just to name a few) — decided to join forces and craft their own brand of unhinged rock and roll. From there they spent the better part of 10 years touring relentlessly before migrating to Queens New York in 2014.
⊂★⊃ With a live show known for its raw, visceral energy and relentless assault — leaving little to no stoppage between songs — they barreled through countless NYC haunts and DIY venues, quickly amassing a fervent local following. The buzz soon caught the attention of Daptone Records execs who were in the beginning stages of launching a new rock~centric imprint, Wick Records.
⊂★⊃ Impressed by the groups’ musicianship, groove, endless supply of energy, and understanding of musical history the Mystery Lights were quickly signed to Wick. Though a rock band at heart, the parallels to what Daptone Records had traditionally looked for in their Soul artists was undeniable. Soon sessions were booked with Producer/Engineer Wayne Gordon, and the release of their debut single “Too Many Girls” b/w “Too Tough to Bear” launched to mass critical fanfare.
⊂★⊃ Upon the release of their self~titled full~length on June 24th 2016 The Mystery Lights were quickly crowned “one of New York’s finest garage rock bands” by NME. Extensive touring, including multiple stops in Europe, Asia and Australia followed which found the group graduating from support slots at hole~in~the~wall clubs to headlining stages at major festivals worldwide.
⊂★⊃ After two years of break~neck, non~stop touring, the group settled back into Queens to prepare for their second full length record, “Too Much Tension” (out May 2019). With Wayne Gordon in the producer’s chair and several intense writing sessions under their belt the group were back at Daptone’s House of Soul and ready to track. While keeping the hard~hitting approach of the first LP, “TMT” finds the group digging deeper into their well of eclectic influences, enriching their sound while echoing the past. Mixing the eerie, insistent synth sounds of groups like The Normal and Suicide, the energy and swagger of punk’s golden age, the pop sensibility of The Kinks, and the stark, deliberate execution of Television — The Mystery Lights are taking their idiosyncratic brand of rock and roll to dizzying new heights.
______________________________________________