Mien (Colored Vinyl)＜限定盤＞

Even if Mien isn't technically a supergroup, it's hard to think of a more promising collaboration of members from well-regarded psych-rock bands. Elephant Stone's Rishi Dhir, the Black Angels' Alex Maas, the Earlies' John Mark Lapham, and the Horrors' Tom Furse formed Mien after years of jamming together online and in person, and their tried-and-true chemistry makes their self-titled debut feel more seasoned than the average first effort. Mien's deep knowledge of psych means they sound as natural on a '60s-indebted song like the shuffling album opener, "Earth Moon," which begins with a rippling sitar as potent as incense smoke, as they do on "Black Habit"'s buzzing motorik or "Odessey"'s psych-pop. Mien ease listeners into the more amorphous parts of their music gradually, and the album gets more abstract and electronic as it progresses. With its loping, distorted beats, foggy synths, and yelped vocals, "(I'm Tired Of) Western Shouting" calls to mind the Silver Apples, while the droning electro dirge "Hocus Pocus" is reminiscent of the future-psych the Horrors pursued on their later albums. "You Dreamt"'s hypnotic grind is a bad trip that sounds good; it's some of the wildest music the men of Mien have made with any of their projects. Mien's experiments are sometimes a little too formless, but the album's standouts prove they weren't keeping all their best ideas for their main bands. ~ Heather Phares