When a member of one of the leading lights of the underground rock scene agrees to get behind the controls of your forthcoming release then you know you have something going right for you musically. The Swell Fellas a trio from Ocean City, Maryland have, with a little dial twiddling help from All Them Witches guitarist Ben McCloud , released what could be the EP of the year in the shape of "The Great Play of Extension" an enthralling mix of progressive tinted psych decorated in vocals that would not sound out of place fronting a band from Liverpool, UK's 80's psychedelic inspired post-punk/indie scene, think Elder jamming with Echo and the Bunnymen or The Teardrop Explodes here.
As the reverberating guitar of Conner Poole introduces first track "Placebo", and is then joined by the liquid bass of Mark Rohrer and the tight solid drumming of Chris Poole, Desert Psychlist is suddenly transported back to a time when the amphetamines', that were the staple drug of the UK punk era, were starting to be replaced with something a little more mind expanding, especially by those bands from the psychedelic tinged Liverpool scene.. Whether The Swell Fellas ever heard or even knew of the existence of bands like Echo & The Bunnymen, Teardrop Explodes and The Mighty Wah is debatable and probably neither here nor there but those who do have some familiarity with those three bands sound will no doubt spot the similarities in The Swell Fellas vocal stylings as well as a few similar indie/psychedelic flavoured nuances. However unlike those Liverpool bands The Swell Fellas also bring an air of proggish complexity to the table something that becomes very evident on the superbly executed "Acid Tone" a song that fizzles and sparks with boundless energy one minute then lays out serene and calm the next only to spark back into life once again, the band shifting back and forth between these two dynamics with seamless ease. The Swell Fellas save their very best for last with the sprawling "Scatterbrain" an eleven minute plus opus that finds the band moving away from the indie flavoured post punk of the two previous tracks and fully embracing their prog/psych side as well as throwing a modicum of stoner(ish) fuzz and hard rock swagger into the mix, Chris Poole's complex and powerful percussion and Mark Rohrer's intricate bass work laying the foundation around which Conner Poole layers some truly mouthwatering lead guitar work thereby bringing to a close the absolutely stunning last track of an equally stunning EP.
As Desert Psychlist writes this the World is in the grip of a global pandemic with many of us having to endure the unnaturalness of being trapped in our own houses and apartments. For some of us, during these uncertain times, music is the only means of salvation our only way of being able to escape the ennui of forced confinement, Now Desert Psychlist is not saying that The Swell Fellas new EP "The Great Play of Extension" is in anyway gonna change our current predicament but music this good, this well written and this well played has got to help a little.
Check it out ….
© 2020 Frazer Jones
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