Celestially Groovy

Brooklyn-based and very longhaired Ancient Sky have released a new psychedelic rock album, Mosaic, with Wharf Cat Records. Although the days where everyone did as many drugs as possible until the music sounded amazing are over (they are, right?), Mosaic sounds celestially groovy without even having to drop a tab of acid.

Pat Broderick on drums, Adam Bulgasem as second drummer, Kevin Lamiell on bass, Brandon Evans on keys and Brian Markham as lead guitar and vocals make up the hard and sonic pieces that create the colorful, cosmic and hallucinogenic work that is Mosaic. Think Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath and The Doors.

Cat Wharf Records states that this album “captures the massive scale of Ancient Sky’s live sound for the first time,” and it’s true. This droning psych album delivers. Skip the sound engineering and production process; it sounds as though you were standing right outside the recording room as they just jammed and rocked out. But it’s no stoner-rock-chill jam session. This album has deliberateness that keeps each song moving and rolling forward and prevents them from getting stuck in the drag of the drones.

The album showcases songs that sometimes fall to one side of the psychedelic rock spectrum. “Sing Swing” is definitely more rock-heavy as Broderick and Bulgasem swing and hit hard, while “Protection” will put you in a euphoric psychedelic trance. However, there is one song that best combines the two: “Garbage Brain.” This song is far from garbage, but it very well might mess with your brain as Markham plays his reverb-heavy electric guitar and works that feedback and those fuzz boxes. His vocals further add to the song’s psychedelic haziness. The song trails off at the end with Evans’ chime-like keyboard.

Tune in and take a swim in the swirling waves of hypnotic echoes, reverbs, distorted riffs, and psychedelic jams that Ancient Sky has pieced together to make their Mosaic.