New releases this week: Psych/Garage Rock

Review: Brooklyn-born Dennis Harte might only have been eleven when he picked up a Sears Silvertone, but the music on this anthologyirecorded between 1973 and 1974iis anything but juvenile. Collected here for the first time on a single release, these four singles originally appeared under shifting monikers (Dennis Harte, Harte Attack, Harte Brothers and Pure Madness), a strategy cooked up by mentor Carl Edelson to maximise industry exposure. The sound veers between garage soul, basement psych, and scrappy blue-eyed r&bian adolescent echo of The Rascals, The Youngbloods or early Spoonful. 'Summer's Over', written by Edelson, is the emotional peak: a world-weary soul lament, rendered uncanny by Harte's teenaged delivery. 'Running Thru My Mind' plays it cooler but still flickers with melodic instinct and wiry guitar interplay. 'Freedom Rides' charges out with organ-stabbed garage grit, a protest anthem wrapped in biker-jacket energy. 'Treat Me Like a Man' flips a Beatles-influenced B-side by Long Island group The Shandels into something looser and more ragged. Harte would go on to tour with Wilson Pickett, but these early 7"sinever before compiledishowcase a raw, regional talent teetering on the edge of real experience. Efficient Space lands another killer excavation from North America's fringe.

Review: Originally scored in 1968 by a loose circle of New York garage-psych acts, this reissued soundtrack finally lifts the veil on one of the strangest period films of the late 60s. The E-Types lead the charge with no fewer than four versions of 'Put The Clock Back On The Wall', ranging from a bright, full-band cut to a warped instrumental and stereo acapella. The Bit' A Sweet contribute the hazy, lurching 'Is It On, Is It Off?'ia woozy gem full of phased guitar and tape wobbleiwhile 'LSD Got A Hold On Me' by Thee Neons dials up the paranoia with raw, fuzzed-out intensity. The Vagrants offer a tight, harmony-laced soul ballad in 'I Love, Love You (Yes I Do)', adding contrast to the acid-drenched proceedings. While the film itself, shot entirely in greyscale, veered closer to surreal documentary than narrative cinema, the music functions as a mood-setting anchor throughoutiequal parts camp, dread, and weird sunshine optimism. This marks the first official pressing of these tracks and serves as both a time capsule of New York's outsider rock fringe and a highly playable psyche compilation in its own right.

Review: Turning the clock back to 1991, legendary Welsh DIY pop band Ffa Coffi Pawb repress their second album for the modern listener. Recorded with experimental electronic studio head Gorwel Owen, in a flat, above a Post Office in Rhosneigr, on the island of Anglesey, it makes no apologies for its uptempo and cacophonous sound, swagging out the starting blocks like a Celtic Happy Mondays. Or, more accurately, Black Grape. Shades of Primal Scream are equally audible in at least some of the guitar riffs, although given the group were fronted by a young Gruff Rhys - who would go on to form Super Furry Animals before embarking on his own critically acclaimed and musically outstanding solo career - you can bet your bottom dollar this is far more original than any lazy comparisons would suggest. Or whatever that translates to in Welsh.

Review: Aussie rockers King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard's 22nd studio release continues their tradition of bold experimentation, featuring two expansive 15-minute tracks, including the highly anticipated fan favourite 'Hypertension.' The band's ability to push the boundaries of the rock genre is ever-present as they blend complex rhythms, hypnotic melodies, and immersive instrumentation in these sprawling compositions. An intricate sonic journey, showcasing King Gizzard's signature chaotic beauty and their continued exploration of sound in new, exciting directions.

Review: Wewantsounds continues its deep dive into Algerian music with the first-ever reissue of Les Abranis' sought-after-by-those-who-know 1983 long player, Album No. 1. Originally recorded in Paris and privately pressed in small quantities, the album, which is also known as Id Ed Was, fuses Kabyle rhythms with funk and touches of reggae. This reissue has been curated by Cheb Gero (of recent Sweet Rebels compiling fame) and features remastered audio, though it retains the original artwork. It's a great line document of Algeria's diasporic groove with a two-page insert featuring fresh liner notes by journalist Rabah Mezouane.

Review: Dominique Baumard's 2025 detective comedy drama, Les Regles de l'art, is a chuckle-inducing exploration of art theft and scandal, reenacting a legendary pilfering of paintings from the Musee d'Art Moderne in Paris in 2010. The plot centres on the trio of thieves who stole €100 million worth of works of art by Picasso, Matisse and Modigliani; they were sentenced to prison, but the paintings were never found. Now the OST by soundtrack artists Lionel LimiNana (more known for his chanson-adjacent project The LimiNanas) and David Menke (more associated with experimental electronica) surfaces. An intermixing of suspenseful legato syntheses and humoured pizzicati help them nail an eternal artistic conundrum - the tradeoff between authenticity of artifice.

Review: Tacoma garage rock legends The Sonics are revisited here across seven 7" singles, covering their key material from 1964 to 1966. The set includes foundational tracks from the Etiquette years i 'The Witch', 'Psycho', and 'Strychnine' i alongside Jerden-era cuts like 'Head On Backwards' and 'Like No Other Man', all remastered and sequenced with clarity. It's the first time material from both periods has been presented together on vinyl. 'Keep A Knockin' and 'Louie Louie' sit comfortably beside the band's originals, which are leaner, noisier, and often more aggressive. 'Boss Hoss', 'Cinderella', and 'Shot Down' showcase the group's punchy rhythm section and blown-out recording style, while 'Have Love Will Travel' and 'High Time' ride the line between r&b cover and full distortion assault. 'Maintaining My Cool', long circulating in other formats, makes its vinyl debut here in its rare Audio Recording version. The pressing includes a booklet with photography by Jini Dellaccio, but the real appeal is in the sequencing i no filler, no novelty, just the most direct catalogue survey of a band that never needed polishing.