ICARUS PEEL’S ACID REIGN – The Window On The Side Of Your Head 2018 (LP/CD Mega Dodo Records)

**PRE-VIEW** Icarus Peel, undoubtedly is one of the main British Underground figures of the last ten or so years (How sic is that!!!) And you can blame only but yourself if not familiar with Icarus’ works. Either as a solo artist, or with The Honey Pot or with Crystal Jacqueline, Icarus is a busy artist, guitarist, instrumentalist, musician, producer, releasing his early works through Psychedandy Records and his latest through Fruits de Mer Records and Mega Dodo Records. We had a first chance to check Icarus’ new vehicle through a lathe-cut 5inches vinyl, a split single (between The Honey Pot and Icarus Peel’s Acid Reign) that Fruits de Mer Records produced and made all 60 copies available to the audience of FdM’s Glastonbury gig on May 12, 2018. The track of the 5” single is called “Half Space” (it is not included on this LP album) and it’s a remarkable 2:18min sample of a modern acid-guitar sounding experiment with a powerful beasty bongo drumming! A fine enlightening “preamble” of what to expect on the album… The Acid Reign project started something like this. During numerous live performances, people asking Icarus to hear him “occupying” his guitar a little more and why not taking it further. Adding that Icarus had missed the old trios like Experience, Cream, Taste, Groundhogs and with the fact that it seems to be a dearth of trios nowadays, the time seemed right for a powerful trio, that would play loud, deep and loose! A dynamic full of energy jam trio but with properly constructed songs! This is exactly what “The Window On The Side Of Your Head” is all about. So, except Icarus (guitars), the other 2 troublemakers are Brian Rushbrooke on drums (he also plays with The Crystal Jacqueline Band) and Andy Budge on bass. Well, after a couple of consecutive hearings of the album, I needed to put my earphones on! All songs are well structured but they have a complex sound in the background where you need to listen carefully to understand this kind of mind-blowing complexity! The LP consists of 10 songs while the CD version has one more, “Gazing Up At Jimi”, a mid-tempo guitar acid rock tune emerging a strange feeling, melting inside your brain! Album takes off with the guitar-intro “Eel Plurr”, a track that introduces the guitar as the main instrument of the album while on “Somewhere Far From Anywhere” you get the feeling of a constantly flowing “Acid-Rock Rain” coming directly from the stratosphere! “Midnight Moonlight” takes me straight back to the glorious early days of Juicy Lucy’s woogie boogie acid rhythmic sound! The really addictive “Marley’s Chains” follows, starting in an acid-prog vain slowly becoming a modern post prog-rock tune! “Be Calm, Becalmed” is a tweaked kind of ballad, moving into a dreamy scenery with a dub-beat and a hot organ section that dangerously flirts with the Blues! The acid-psych folk instro of “Let’s Get It Together” relocates our mind to the 60s sunny West Coast of California! The fast and full of energy “Way Out West” follows while “Eyes Of Insomnia” is a psychedelically flavored bluesy ballad transforming into a weird acid roller coaster! Wow! “Falling All Around” wakes up the ghost of the ultimate guitar power-trio (whichever is this!) Lastly, the whole album attitude and soundscape is summarized into the last track, the brilliant gorgeous “The Sun Will Leave You Cold”, starting under an acidly psych vein, becoming progressively rock with a pinch of a 70s Pink Floyd ballad style, an agonizing song that transforms into a modern acid-rock tune, ending in a dub-psych way! Remarkable! A Royal Release indeed! (TimeLord Michalis)  

RELEASE INFO:

Label: Mega Dodo Records

Format: LP, Album, Vinyl, Limited Edition 180gram Acid Yellow

Format: LP, Album, Vinyl, DODOLP30

Format: CD, Album, Limited CD in a Tin

Format: CD, Album, DODOCD30

Release Date: 27 July 2018 

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