Still
where it's at! Japan-based psych-garage trio hit the spot!
I still remember the epiphany of
catching the garage-rock bug as a teenager. While the majority of my
fellow sixth-formers were content to have Dire Straights' Brothers
In Arms on constant repeat on the common room cassette deck, (or
worse - Pink Floyd's The Wall), I was introduced by my pals
Chris and Sean to the Nuggets and Pebbles compilations
along with a raft of reissues on Bam Caruso Records. Here was music
that was punky, soulful, and psychedelic. A rich seam to explore. It
was colourful and fun, which went against the grain of being a goth,
seemingly the only other rebellious strain available to to us
sheltered young pups in our small market town. I was smitten, and
remain so to this day.
The Routes' latest album, their
seventh, which came out just before Christmas, is a reminder of just
how valuable that epiphany has been in forming my musical tastes and
outlook, and also highlights that while the basic sonic template of
psychedelic garage-rock may not have shifted much over the years, if
you have something to say it will serve you well. And if you're a
savvy enough musician you can add touches of other genres – R&B,
surf-rock, folk-rock, Krautrock, shoegaze, even house or techno. It's
no surprise that shape-shifting bands such as Primal Scream started
out as a bowl-haircutted garage band with a pointy shoes, paisley
shirts and a tambourine player.
The Routes are a trio led by Chris Jack
– a Scottish born musician now resident In Hita City, Japan. While
they too have a fondness for paisley shirts, skinny jeans, and
teardrop-shaped guitars played through vintage fuzz pedals, there is
more going on in their music than the retro bubble letters of their band logo would suggest. Within these grooves are
experimental sonic threads – be it the tremolo and drone of album
opener 'The Ricochet', 'Up and Down' with its shimmering layered
guitars, or the title track's chromatic chord progression in the
chorus recalling the works of Syd Barrett.
The album's more traditional
garage-rock tracks such as 'The King Of Loose Ends' and 'You Cried
Wolf' are equally thrilling, full of riffs, hooks, snarly vocals and
ear-splitting trebly guitar solos. Dick Dale gets channelled on
surfy number 'Split Personality', and there's plenty punkish attitude
throughout with nods to artists such as Loop, The Jesus And Mary
Chain, Spaceman 3, The Seeds and 13th Floor elevators.
Tune Out, Switch Off, Drop In is no pure retro trip though, it
lyrically addresses current global concerns, pointing out that as a
species we are without doubt regressing rather than progressing. The
CD version comes with an extra four taken from the Driving Round
In Circles EP, which originally came out on Ghost Highway
Recordings in 2018. Whether your musical first love is '60s
garage-rock, '90s indie, or simply great guitar bands from any era,
this is an album worthy of your attention. Switch on and tune in!
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