Lucas Fitzsimons' previous projects have always been an experiment in sound, incorporating rock n' roll, funk and punk. The Molochs continue revisiting the same retro vibes with their new album, America's Velvet Glory.
The follow up to their 2013 album, Forgetter Blues, is part homage, part deconstruction of the golden era of American pop and underground music. With nods to The Doors, Velvet Underground, Cohen, Dylan and various 60s pop groups along the way, the band pack an impressive 11 songs into a 33-minute running time, really intent on working that classic three-minute pop song structure. The garage band feel is manageable from the glistening mood of Ten Thousand. Charlie's Lips riffs on the feel of 60s girl groups with an uptempo organ, but much darker and subversive lyrics – a recurring theme in the band's music.
They mix the attitude of The Stones and The Kinks with pure stoner psychedelia on tracks like Little Stars and That's The Trouble With You. Whilst Fitzsimons' upbringing in Argentina and Inglewood may not have obviously affected his music, the passion of Hispanic and hip hop music is definitely there. His vocals are dark and lazy with a hypnotic nasal resonance. His paean to the big apple particularly works this to dizzying and disorientating effect. “Na, Na, Na, New York” he stutters in a misty haze reminiscent of Daltrey's intoxicated “ffff, fade away.”
In their attempt to take the past apart they have taken the best of 60s pop, added a seedy subculture and thrown it at a disenfranchised modern audience who will surely relish their post-modern, self-referential, poetic flair.
Groupie Rating: 4/5
