Sometimes, your friends are all, "You wanna go to a psychedelic show next week?" and the only way to answer is with an all-caps YES. And then you dig through the Imaginary Inbox (a real thing!) to see if you can find any intel on a dude named Jacco Gardner coming to Barboza, and you check out the video to see what you just signed yourself up for. And it turns out, you made a good call.*

The structure of Gardner's music is primarily a one-man show, layer after layer of tracks set just right. The sound itself is modern psychedelic, and by "modern" I don't mean mod-sounding, I mean a totally legit take on the quintessential sixties vibe that sounds current and throwback all at once — somewhere between how Joni Mitchell's Blue is utterly timeless, and how those real-deal roots musicians put factory-spun stomp-and-clap bands to shame. At first glance, the new album (Cabinet of Curiosities) kind of sounds like Cloud War minus the XTC vibe, spliced with some Liam Finn and a boatload of hallucinogens, with gorgeous choral melodies and a whole lotta harpsichord. And the song from the video above, "End of August," makes me want to put on big headphones in the middle of a field somewhere in an overstuffed armchair — maybe with a crocheted blanket? — so I have a squishy front-row seat to trip out in, while I watch summer fade.

It's a drag that Jacco isn't coming through with the Allah-Las (they just played together on Saturday in San Francisco), because that would be a real face melter. However, Parson Red Heads and Ephrata are rounding out the bill at Barboza, and they should make for a pretty great night. Tickets are still available, ten bucks, 21+. Be there!

*True story.