Music Review: Various Artists, The Magical Mystery Psych Out – A Tribute To The Beatles

By Melissa Bratcher

It must be more than a bit daunting to cover the Beatles. They’re The Beatles for the love of Pete, the alpha and the omega, the ones from whom everything good sprung, the band that changed everything. (True fact: I once was friends with a woman who said, “I don’t really like the Beatles.” I realized from that moment that she was a horrible person and I couldn’t be friends with her anymore. And I wasn’t.)

The 12 up-and-coming psychedelic bands that bravely tackled the Beatles on The Magical Mystery Psych Out – A Tribute To The Beatles (from Cleopatra Records, the same label that released Stoned – A Psych Tribute To The Rolling Stones in January 2015) often play it safe, not taking liberties with melody or rhythm, and doing fairly straightforward covers. There are moments of sheer lunacy (Kikagaku Moyo’s take on “Helter Skelter” is both shouty and lackadaisical, aside from being grungy) and moments that are transcendent.

“Transcendent” describes The Blank Tapes’ version of “The Word.” Inasmuch as John Lennon’s vocals on the original are strident, Matt Adams makes his vocals silky smooth and understated. The twelve-bar blues funkiness is still intact, but this version is laid back and subtle. It’s respectful and just different enough from the original that it is a standout track.

The Vacant Lots make “Julia” a rockier, driving song, more “Gloria” than “Julia.” Still, it works. The interpretation is inventive and brave with a start/stop rhythm. In the hands of Sugar Candy Mountain, “Rain” becomes ethereal with female vocals and ends with the tape running backwards. Very psychedelic.

It has been said by someone, surely, that the psychedelic era began with “Tomorrow Never Knows” (but we all know it began with Gabor Szabo and Ustad Ali Akbar). Electric Moon turns in an edgy version with ramped-up reverb and an insistent dirty buzz that hides under layers of guitar. Disaffected vocals are buried in the dreamy mix.

The KVB add the right amount of menace to “Taxman,” taking it in a Sisters of Mercy direction (there really should be a goth Beatles cover band called Sitars of Mercy). The Ruby Suns remove the tweeness from “Martha My Dear” and take it down to a quiet dirge. The opening harmonies sound like an off-kilter Jellyfish. It’s still light, but heavier and experimental. Quilt’s sleepy “Cry Baby Cry” is quiet, so very quiet, with ladies singing (mostly) in unison and a ragtime piano. It’s otherworldly.

The Magical Mystery Psych Out is surprisingly consistent. There are a couple of not-so-great tracks (Strangers Family Band’s “Sun King” is like the worst experimental jazz: noisy and annoying) but as a whole, it’s a reverential tribute to The Best Band In The World.

The Magical Mystery Psych Out was released by Cleopatra Records on March 3.