Hailing from a country better known for nosebleed Techno than Psychedelic Rock ‘n’ Roll, Moaning Cities can be considered as Belgium’s leading Psych Rock outfit. We first came across the band in 2012 through their long sold out self produced/self released/self titled debut EP which blended rootsy Blues, fuzzed out guitars and sitar-driven psychedelia……..the track ‘Heaven/Abyss’ was a ten minute mindfuck of a tune and we realised straight away that there was something special going on with this band. Fast forward four years……….Moaning Cities are now on their second album and the Brussels based band are prime movers Belgian Psych scene. The new album, D.Klein, sees the band developing a harder, bluesier sound with plenty of crunching guitar riffs underpinned with a razor sharp rhythm section with the band’s influences for the record ranging from The Doors, The Velvet Underground, 13th Floor Elevators and The Sonics to more recent Psych bands such as The Black Angels, BRMC, Dead Meadow and the Black Diamond Heavies, with elements of North African and Middle-Eastern traditional music added to the swirling maelstrom of sound.
Effortlessly shifting between urgent, dynamic Psychedelic Rock ‘n’ Roll, hazy Desert Blues and tripped out Indian vibes, Moaning Cities have returned with an album of the strongest set of songs they have recorded to date. The outstanding songs on an album crammed with great tunes have to be the reverb soaked ‘Insomnia’ (watch the video here), the stoned and bluesy ‘Sex Sells’ and the absolutely fantastic 70s rock influenced ‘ Vertigo Rising’ (watch the video for this here). There are two bona fide headswirlers on D.Klein, the twisted road trip ‘Yell-Oh-Bahn’ is a slow burning spoken work narration scored with tripped out sitar and swirl with the drums and bass driving the track along at a steady pace while 'Drag' is a pulsing Krautrock influenced dash from dusk to dawn down a desert highway in a Dodge Challenger with Kowalski, wide eyed on uppers, behind the wheel………..fans of no nonsense Psychedelic Rock ‘n’ Roll bands such as Night Beats are really going to dig this record.
Out NOW on EXAG Records, D.Klein is available on vinyl, CD and also available as a digital download from the EXAG website and Bandcamp site here http://exagrecords.bandcamp.com/.
Alternatively, you can buy the album from all clued up Psych Rock stockists/vinyl emporiums. The Moaning Cities debut EP is still available as a “name your price” download here http://moaningcities.bandcamp.com/album/moaning-cities-ep
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