Bookhouse – λ
Bookhouse is a bedroom-recorded psych-rock band from North Wales, UK. Incorporating elements of psychedelia, drone and krautwave, the band demonstrate that a large production budget is not necessary to deliver a banger lo-fi psych album.
While the soft-spoken female vocals are quite alluring on Lambda, the instrumentals are key to the song’s ability to stay strong for a grand length. Imagine Amon Duul had a shoestring budget; it’s incredibly close to what λ would sound like had it been made by them. Moreover, despite being an oversaturated genre in the modern age, Bookhouse cultivate such an impressive palate of sounds, it’s a wonder they haven’t been heard elsewhere before. Another great feature of λ is how varied each song is; Oneirocritica sounds like a schizophrenic surf rock jam, Lemniscate blends tribal percussion with funk and zany sampling, and the final jam blends twangy guitars with a gorgeous, drony wall of sound. It’s a darn shame the closer cuts out of nowhere, though.
While the production and aesthetic enhance the more subdue and post-rock elements, they tend to dampen the more sufer-psych rock sections. This is because the vocals tend to muffle within the mix; sometimes in a pleasant hazy manner, a la Bardo Pond/Royal Trux, but sometimes in an amateurish and substandard way. This is an area the band should pay attention to in future, but it can easily be forgiven on their debut, as thankfully the album is far more concerned with juggling with atrocious frequencies in a playful, varied and incredibly engaging manner. Lastly, while the increasing tempo is rather neat the first-time round, it becomes too much of a gimmick further down the tracklisting.
While Bookhouse don’t reinvent the wheel on their debut, they do demonstrate they are a band to keep an eye on. They boast character, depth, and a great amount of spirit missing from many acts in the underground scene. They have a lot to live up to following their impressive debut; here’s hoping their album is longer, and equally as impressive.
Great
Listen to it here:
Bookhouse – λ
