Peyote Ugly’s new LP “Double Vision” (released 9.16.22) kicks off with the six and a half minute track “Epheral.” You are signaled straight away that this will be a journey of sounds and spirits. Humans on rock and roll instruments. The opener is heavy on atmosphere with unrelenting guitar wails and earcatching synth runs. (Bandcamp download page.)
“Melting Sea” follows, and we learn sounds and spirits will be supported by shifting styles. It’s nearly perfect pop rock with searching, soothing vocals and an emphasis on melody and groove. The universe of the LP expands.
“Seattle’s Peyote Ugly define their art as Ectodelic synth-psyche which has a counter-poised thing happening in my unsophisticated brain, ‘ecto’ meaning external and psyche suggesting the human soul, deeply internal.” —Robb Donker Curtius
https://www.americanpancake.com/2022/08/peyote-ugly-and-artistic-duality-of.html
By track three you might be wondering who the “real” Peyote Ugly is. But a universe truly discovered is a patchwork of patterns and realities. “Tea Leaves” is a reflective pop jangle continuing and building on the feels of “Melting Sea.” It’s personal, looking inward: “When I was a child, everything had meaning.”
The alt/rock vibe is back with “Mutiny” as Peyote Ugly shifts seemlessly, convering a canvas with both intricate and broad strokes. Light flashes through a window, guitar reverb lifts the soul. It comes on strong and finishes soft. We are all searching. Sometimes you revolt.
By track five you might be wanting to jump into a car and raise the volume. “Ultraviolet” will be a great song to start the engine to. It’s a tune for travelers seeking someplace different. The journey begins. The destination is less important than getting started. Again the lush guitar work haunts, filling up your car with nocturnal bliss. Headlights will lead your quest.
“Wormwood” loops and teases. “Spiraling” is another style shift. “I don’t want to wake up. Less time to take up.”
“Ripped Apart” sounds ominous by title, but the slower groove from Spiraling continues. Some cool synth organ sounds. This section of the LP is almost like facing the reality of the morning after, of how ponderous life can be between the high points.
This is cemented as “Hey Love, Hey Light” hits your ears. Peyote Ugly are doing it all now. The journey lifted to archetypal dimensions. A swirl of cosmic riffs harkening, hallucinating, hovering within a pyschedelic rock era timewarp.
“Double Vision” closes out with “Palo Santo” and “Au Revior.” The former is an all-out banger that tosses in more organ and fluttering guitar strobes. It could have lasted longer. The final track arrives confidently with rocking drums and electric guitar playing mental hopscotch with each other. The listener wins.
I like everywhere Peyote Ugly went inside the universe of “Double Vision.” This is a modern rock record in the best sense. Diverse. Dynamic. Cool. Confident. Insightful. Intelligent.
Nice universe while it lasts. But then again that’s what the repeat button is for. Multiverses.
LINK: https://www.peyoteugly.com/
Peyote Ugly have been bathing audiences in their self described ectodelic-psych rock since 2015, when the idea for creating a psychedelic band struck members Elliot Preston (Blade Palace) and Brennan Moring (Sealife) soon after meeting via a mutual friend that would become their first drummer. When their former drummer moved to Mexico in 2020, the band expanded to include Nate Louis (Blade Palace) on drums and Sebastian Brown Glad (Forest Ray) on bass — the sound is built on the synergy in songwriting between Brennan and Elliot: a foundation grounded in Elliot’s driving pedal-laden guitar riffs and melodic leads that meld with Brennan’s ethereal vocals, complex songwriting structures, and psychedelic synth-work. This new line up ensures a renewed energy for the band both live and in the studio, and as Elliot states: ‘the new songs feel more like Peyote Ugly than ever before.’
https://www.peyoteugly.com/home
UNCLE EARS is a music blog written by David Falk. davidrfalk@gmail.com David was born in 1962 and gravitates towards melodies, adventure, unsigned artists, fresh discoveries. He trusts his ear to know what it likes and loves sharing what he finds. He lives near Seattle, WA, USA.
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