Revolushn

The sophomore slump is an affliction that is difficult for a lot of bands to overcome. They spend years crafting their first record and then try to duplicate that magic within a couple months. It usually leads to lacklustre hooks and repetitive structures. However, sometimes a debut is just a brainstorming session for the material that is to come. Unsuccessful tangents are abandoned, as are lazy generic rock tunes that rest on your laurels. The band's sound is defined and sharpened. Add in some new voices to round out the group's sound and the second album becomes a cohesive vision.

With their debut, The Freshmen, San Fransisco psych/garage/space rockers Revolushn were just figuring out what they wanted to be. The album showed a desire to enter the realm of the weird. Experiments with P-funk and spacey accordion took on themes of bending reality and the outer reaches of our universe but they didn't feel like fully fleshed out ideas. Furthermore, the bar rock tunes peppered in distracted from their far-out mantra.

But a band can change....
With Further!!, Revolushn have found their stride laying down a nine track album of head-bobbing, mind-spinning tunes to curate your party bus to Mars. With the addition of Guinevere Q on bass and Young Sun adding a second guitar to the mix, Revolushn have fused into a tight unit and release this album with the energy and might of a rocket ship.

The opener and title track 'Further!!' splices grungy garage guitar and whirring '80s synths. The bouncy groove takes you to a sock hop in a galaxy far away with aliens singing big phasing melodies. NO and Guinevere Q trade off verses, each taking over in their own quirky way. The harmonized chorus rings out with the cautionary lines, “Sometimes you learn, sometimes you crash and burn!” as drummer Dekay whips up a frenzy. 'Further!!' is an anthem encouraging us all to get wacky and go a little further.

The expansive and arguably best track of the album 'Time + Travel = Time' dives deep into consciousness the way any psych outfit worth its salt should. A spattering of guitar harmonics and a surge of synths play the role of an orchestra tuning up. The ensuing psychedelic onslaught is massive, with grand vocal declarations and thundering drums. Singer NO explores the mystifying connection between the physical and the spiritual with a yearning to the heavens.

'Dinosaurs' rocks with a riff-heavy '70s feel while keeping an element of the weird in the mix. Thick vocal harmonies lift this one into the stratosphere. 'The River' is an inland sea shanty with haunting acoustic guitars and rolling drums. NO's vocals take on a Mastodon-like timbre. The lead single, 'Dog Gets High' is just wacky fun, with an equally wacky video, once again blending reality an illusion. The band is locked in and having a blast.

Further!! lifts Revolushn from a loose collection of half fleshed out ideas to a full-blown force. On this album, they've crystallized their sound into a zany larger than life juggernaut ready to travel through space and into the mind. With their second album, Revolushn not only avoid the sophomore slump, they blow their debut so far away that it feels like a fresh start with a new band.