Rejuvenated
psych-explorers THE BRAINIAC 5 return with Journey
To X, their second
full-length outing since their 2012 reunification. Buoyed by the
success of 2015’s Exploding
Universe, and an
appearance on Cherry Red's acclaimed Another
Splash Of Colour
psych box set, the band have made a quick return to Alchemy Studios
in North London and with the help of producer and engineer Kenny
Jones and the arrival of new drummer Joe Malone, have stripped back
to the two guitars, bass and drums format of past glories, yet
continue to move forward with renewed energy and fresh ideas.
Say
the band, “After experimenting with sax and flute for our last
album, we thought that this time we would revert to our core
four-piece psych/punk guitar orientated template. With the
introduction of the powerhouse drumming of Joe Malone, we’ve
certainly come up with some blistering music in this vein. However,
somewhere along the journey we seem to have also wandered off on some
other new paths. A touch of the smoky jazz cellar and African
influences, a slight nod to country-blues and beyond. With lyrics
inspired and influenced by Elizabeth Jennings, Robert Graves and The
Golden Bough, we
think this makes for a heady and intriguing mix, yet still all
somehow manages to sound like The Brainiac 5. The journey has been
exciting and fulfilling and has resulted in what we feel is our most
complete and accomplished work to date.”
Emerging
in the mid-70s out of the UK’s isolated yet thriving South-Western
scene, the Brainiac 5 relocated to London, where their Mushy
Doubt EP had already
caused a stir. Sharing stages with the likes of The Soft Boys and The
Barracudas and finding fans in John Peel and Alex Chilton, they split
before their debut album World
Inside was released
through celebrated psych label Reckless (Bevis Frond, Black Sun
Ensemble, Mu).
With
frontman Charlie Taylor returning from years in the US, the Brainiacs
reconvened, resulting in 2013’s Sun Ra-inspired Space
Is The Place EP which
garnered effusive reviews from the likes of The Wire and Shindig! The
following year’s When
Silence Was Sound
anthology and the all-new Exploding
Universe also
received praise from Mojo, Record Collector, R2 and Vive Le Rock
magazines, as well as from psych and outsider websites around the
world. Journey To X
will be simultaneously issued on CD, download and deluxe 180g
gatefold vinyl.
Release date 20 January 2017
Album
launch at The Gunners, Blackstock Road, London N5 on Saturday 21
January from 4pm, with special guests Morton Valence, Mark & The Clouds, The Green Ray, Proudfoot and more.... FREE admission!
The
group’s music has a freshness and verve that makes their recent
reformation seem entirely justified.
Prog
It’s
like finding something you never knew you’d lost.
The Wire
The
West Country’s answer to Television.
Shindig!
Punk
energy harnessed to a serious Ladbroke Grove attitude, the result a
wonderful cornucopia of sound. Terrascope
This
is acid punk at its best.
**** R2
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