THE SENCES – Better Than Before (2024, LP Lost In Tyme Records)

RELEASE INFO:

Label:  Lost In Tyme Records

Format: LP, Album,  

Release Date: June 2024

It was almost a year ago (July 2023) that I reviewed the debut 7inch single by these youngsters from Thessaloniki, and I was ending the review like this “…this very first “sample” of their music is positive and I’m pretty sure that if they study their homework (that I know the kids’ caring parents will take care of it), then the Sixties Future is on their hands…”. (Read the whole review here) A year passed and The Sences are back with a full-length LP album, which means that they took the ‘natural’ way of things… Cool… But, first of all, let me start by saying that this is really, an achievement. A very hard accomplishment by The Sences. I’m referring to the fact that a young band releases their debut album, which contains 12 original compositions, not even one cover! So, the kids have Guts! But, what about the so-called ‘homework’? Hmmm… Well, you know how these things work, you can’t do it from one day to another… It needs Time, and one thing is sure, The Sences have plenty of it! 

Let’s have a look at Lost In Tyme’s press release:

“A year after the release of their debut 7″ EP, The Sences strike back with their debut album. “Better Than Before” contains 12 original compositions, that show their big love for garage & moody sounds of the 60’s!

It’s really impressive to watch these youngsters boldly write and record so many high-quality garage songs with such energy and passion, one after the other, like it’s the easiest thing in the world! The answer is that The Sences live and breathe those sounds! Their teen angst-ridden songs are influenced by bands that played in clubs on the Sunset Strip such as The Pandora’s Box in the 60’s like Love, The Chocolate Watchband, and early WCPAEB, as well as all the obscure 60s garage bands from the USA suburbs, that we all love.

The LP kicks off with “Don’t Care”, the ultimate garage punk anthem of 2024! Tracks like “No Pain No Sorrow”, “Either Way” or “Byrds Won’t Fly Today” may have well escaped a teen campus or a college dorm from New England circa 1966 or so, while teen garage stompers like “She Knocked On My Door”, “One More Night’” and “My Girl” are filled with raw fuzz, swirling farfisa, pounding drums and tons of screams. Their LP closes with the mind-blowing acid punk instro “Psychosis”, that may well have been the main theme of the soundtrack of a mid-60s psychsploitation flick.

The Sences don’t try hard to look or sound “cool” or “authentic”. Actually they “don’t care”, because they are already cool and authentic! Let The Sences take you to the magical world of their music. It’s exactly what garage music should be!”…

“Better Than Before” consists of 12 songs in total, equally divided into the 2 sides of the LP album and it kicks off in the most ear-shattering 60s way, with the punk-a-delic “Don’t Care” a blurry mid-60s punkish garage tune, stating from the very first second their beloved ‘direction’, mid-60s, USA of course… But, that is not the only thing that the band “states” here, another thing is that their ‘sounding’ has to do with their ‘on-purpose” ‘buried’ production, yes it’s a personal aspect of the band and I’ll have to respect that, though I may have a few objections on this matter according to the “desired’ sounding result that The Sences want to bring out, but it’s THEIR SOUND and they can do whatever they want with it… Let’s move on… “No Pain No Sorrow” is another cool tune, a bit ‘folkier’, and quite melodic, with an exceptional guitar solo taken straight out of some West L.A. suburb from the 60s (of course). Farfisa leads the way to “She Knocked On My Door” and some astonishing teenage angst fills my speakers with tremendous garage-punky adrenaline, also buried… “Either Way” is an amazing Moodish ‘66 Garage tune with a cool electric guitar and desperate teenage lyrics, a track that is somehow drenched in bittersweet melancholy. The chilling Moody-Garage “Byrds Won’t Fly Today”, blinks an eye to the folk-rock Masters, The Byrds, while there are a few pinches of psych, here and there. Side ‘A’ closes with “Say Goodbye”, another ‘flirt’ with folk-rock while the Farfisa finds a moment to ‘breath’ and fill us with joy and happiness… The self-titled “Better Than Before” starts side ‘B’, the bass starts, Farfisa enters, and the guitar follows creating a hazy atmosphere under a moody folk-rocking environment. “My Girl” is an unbelievable garage punk-a-delic 2-minute dynamite while “You Know What To Do” is a short mid-tempo tune blending 60s garage and Folk-Rock. “Mirror” is Moody Garage “painted” with a Laurel Canyon folkie rock guitar sound while the Farfisa fills the air with melancholy nostalgic vibes. Getting to the end we have some powerful teenage garage punk mayhem with the incredible ‘fuzzy’ and ‘screamy’, “One More Night”. (I forgot to mention that “My Girl” and “One More Night” are 2 out of 3, of my highlights of the album)… My third highlight is the closing track of the album, the instrumental “Psychosis”, a colorful phantasmagoric Psychedelic track, a turn-on-acid, and full-of-energy tune, that could have been the Psychedelic theme of a mid-60s cult Biker movie, back in the day… Mind-bending, indeed!

So, “Better Than Before” is a good “old-fashioned” teenage album soaked into mid-60s Garage and I believe that all enthusiasts out there will dig it! Lastly, I want to mention that because of some specific circumstances, comparisons with The Sences’ father-figure-band are inevitable… There’s not much that can be done now… so, hear me out boys (and gals), the energy is here, the passion is here, and it also seems that the necessary chemistry is here, it’s time for you to open your own wings… The seed is there, and I will be anxiously waiting for the Harvest time in the near future… TimeLord Michalis

Tracklist

Links:

Get it through LOST IN TYME Facebook

Visit THE SENCES Facebook

Alternatively, grab it via SHINY BEAST Mailorder