Three Imaginary Girls

Seattle's Indie-Pop Press – Music Reviews, Film Reviews, and Big Fun

The bio for this L.A.-based septet reference such chemically minded peers as Timothy Leary (who front man Bobby Hecksher spent some "quality" time with), the Brian Jonestown Massacre (Hecksher has sat in with the band on a number of occasions), and former Spacemen 3 co-owner Sonic Boom (an avowed Warlocks fan and tour mate). They are fitting mates for this expansive psychedelic rock outfit, whose music is awash in the tropes of the band's '60s and '80s antecedents (warbling bass, long one-riff passages, generous helpings of the Farfisa, and lots and lots of feedback).

For someone like myself who has never dabbled in any psychedelic drugs before, this is probably the closest I'll ever get to that experience in my lifetime. The songs on this album take their glorious time getting going, such as the full two-minutes of droning guitar passages that precede the full band on the song "Slip Beneath" or the shuddering epic "Moving Mountains," which goes from a thinly plucked acoustic guitar line to full-fledged sonic assault in just under 11 minutes.

In a sense, it's an album that kicks against every modern day musical ideal that has shackled how artists choose to express themselves nowadays. This is not a record that fits into the schema of an iPod shuffle, or a ringtone or meant to be heard for 45 seconds on a friend's MySpace page. It's organic music that grows with a methodical brilliance, building landscapes of sound that will take your breath away if you are willing to slow down and allow it to do so.