09 June 2023

MISSING JACK & THE KAMELEONS – Human Cycle (2023, LP Six Tonnes De Chair)

RELEASE INFO:

Label: Six Tonnes De Chair

Format: LP, Album, Limited Edition, Black Vinyl, Offset Printed Cover (Artwork variant #1), 200 copies

Format: LP, Album, Limited Edition, Opaque Red Vinyl, Hand Screen Printed Cover (Artwork variant #2), 300 copies

Release Date: 17 Mar 2023

Missing Jack & The Kameleons is a new psych-garage rock quintet formed in 2016 in Toulouse, France. “Human Cycle” is their debut album released through the French label Six Tonnes De Chair. The info provided on the label’s Bandcamp says:

“Nourished by 60s and 70s sounds and influenced by the current psyche scene, the group offers a universe with multiple sounds; mixing the sharp riffs of a muscular garage rock with the flights of a vaporous progressive rock, bathed in reverb, delay, and overdrive. “Human Cycle”, their first album, is a celebration of the cycle of life, a six-act introspection on emancipation, self-discovery, and acceptance of life. An inevitable end”…

The band consists of Nicolas Howe (lead guitar, vocals), Mathieu Howe (lead guitar), Mike Pelissier (rhythm guitar), Esteban Peralta (bass guitar), and Antony Eynard (drums, keyboards, vocals). All songs of the album have been composed, recorded, and written by Missing Jack & The Kameleons while for the rather impressive artwork cover responsible is Anouk Fanovard and Antoine Thieule.
“Human Cycle” with a total running of 41 minutes consists of 6 tracks, 3 on each side of the LP. The album kicks off with “You Don’t Have To Think”, it starts with a killer heady bass line, the pounding delicate drums are giving the ‘suitable’ rhythm to the track while the guitar takes over the psych/garage part of the song, this is a ‘fast & furious’ powerful cool modern Psych-Rock anthem acting like a goddamn Psych Roller-Coaster! “Hidden Gem” is a groovy Psycher, a rhythmic and beatable track with a hidden dark 80s charm and a rather cool melody, slowly becoming a frenzy PSYCHEDELIC Rock Gem (!) that flirts with Space-Prog Psychedelia while in the middle of this adventure (song), there’s a huge dive into the hallucinated late 60s Psych era entering your brain, opening ‘doors’ and projecting brand new-and-never-before-seen colors! The scenery rapidly changes on “One Drop Later”, becoming much slower, and trippier, with a kind of bittersweet melody without losing the ‘psychedelic element’ (it’s the secret ingredient that this band uses), after the first four instrumental balladesque minutes, the track transforms into an electric slow piece of Psychedelia (with lyrics now) that progressively accelerates and reaches a climax getting into a colorful parallel mind-universe! Side ‘B’ opens with “Offliners”, this is another Psych-Groove-Rocker with a tremendous 80s aesthetic, full of Psych-energy and a ‘Beat’ that every modern “Krauty” band would envy! “Wegonnadie” starts and by now the band has a strong and quite recognizable sound that fully unwraps here, dynamic with a catchy guitar melody and a kind of African-Touareg guitar sound (Tinariwen comes to mind) while the last 3 minutes the track is being transformed into a psychedelic delicious rhythmic song that manages to make another transformation towards the end where it finally reaches the magical modern-aged PSYCH territory! The album comes to an end with “The Wheel”, a slower tune, a cool electric balladesque song with a fascinating late 80s Pink Floyd guitar sound… In conclusion, Missing Jack & The Kameleons delivered to the world a psychedelically incredible LP album, one of the Bests of 2023 for sure, and I will be desperately waiting for their next move… TimeLord Michalis