Music Review: Jacco Gardner, Hypnophobia

By Melissa Bratcher

On Hypnophobia, the follow up to Dutch multi-instrumentalist/producer Jacco Gardner’s 2013 Cabinet Of Curiosities, the lines between sleeping and waking are blurred. Hypnophobia is dream-like and gauzy, with gorgeous, hazy melodies. It feels like Syd Barrett joined the Beatles.

Gardner is an aficionado of vintage instruments and plays everything on his album himself, save for drums. On Hypnophobia, he plays mellotrons, an Optigan, an antique Wurlitzer electric piano, and an antique Steinway upright. The music he makes with these instruments is eclectic and clever, with repeating motifs and baroque flourishes.

The neo-psychedelic opener, “Another You,” has a huge, enveloping sound with swooning back-up harmonies. A sunny slice of psych pop, its melody is not sugary, but delectable and deeply layered. The following instrumental, “Grey Lanes” has a nearly gothic feel, but it’s a sunshiny, happy goth. It’s majestic and classic sounding, and a sharp, recurring keyboard riff builds the foundation for a hypnotic thread of guitar that winds through the track. The electric piano hook of “Find Yourself” buries itself deep in the brain. Gardner’s vocals are filtered and robotic here, and the result works quite well.

Folky picked guitar offsets Gardner’s affected robotic voice on “Face To Face.” Coupled with shimmering synthesizer flourishes, the effect is both icy and warm. The bright “Before The Dawn” is awash in waves of synths, ping-ponging keyboards, and reverb-heavy guitar as it builds to a mad swirl before dropping into a more pastoral sound. The song provides nice background noise, but at nearly eight minutes, it’s excessively long. A bit of editing might benefit. The title track, pleasantly spacey, evolves into brittle, glittery glockenspiel.

Jacco Gardner’s Hypnophobia is an opulent record, one that is (almost) totally cohesive from beginning to end and as a result, compulsively listenable.

Hypnophobia was released on May 5 via Polyvinyl.

Tour Dates:
Fri. May 8 – Lyon, FR @ Epicerie Moderne
Sun. May 10 – Brussels, BE @ Les Nuits Botanique
Mon. May 11 – Bordeaux, FR @ Barbey Rock School Club
Wed. May 13 – Barcelona, ES @ Le 2 De Apolo
Thu. May 14 – Valencia, ES @ El Loco
Fri. May – Madrid, ES @ El Sol
Sat. May 16 – Lisbon, PT @ Music Box
Sun. May 17 – Porto, PT @ Hard Club
Mon. May 18 – Orense, ES @ Auditorio De Orense
Tue. May 19 – San Sebastian, ES @ Intxaurrondo
Thu. May 21 – Capri, IT @ Mattatoio
Fri. May 22 – Ravenna, IT @ Hana Bi
Sat. May 23 – Padova, IT @ Mame
Sun. May 24 – Vienna, AT @ Arena
Tue. May 26 – Munich, DE @ Kranhalle at Feierwerk
Wed. May 27 – Berlin, DE @ Private Club
Thu. May 28 – Hamburg, DE @ Molotow Club
Fri. May 29 – Copenhagen, DK @ Loppen
Sat. May 30 – Oslo, NO @ Revolver
Sun. May 31 – Stockholm, SE @ Strand
Thu. June 4 – Rotterdam, NL @ Rotown
Fri. June 5 – Eindhoven, NL @ Psych Lab at Effenaar
Sat. June 6 – Maastricht, NL @ Muziekgieterij
Wed. June 10 – Philadelphia, PA @ Milkboy
Thu. June 11 – Brooklyn, NY @ Rough Trade (Northside Festival)
Fri. June 12 – Brooklyn, NY @ Northside Festival
Sat. June 13 – Portsmouth, NH @ The Press Room
Sun. June 14 – Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Upstairs *
Tue. June 16 – Montreal, QC @ Bar Le “Ritz” P.D.B.*
Wed. June 17 – Toronto, ON @ NXNE *
Thu. June 18 – Toronto, ON @ NXNE *
Fri. June 19 – Cleveland, OH @ Happy Dog *
Sat. June 20 – Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen *
Sun. June 21 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry *
Tue. June 23 – Missoula, MT @ Stage 112 *
Wed. June 24 – Seattle, WA @ The Sunset Tavern *
Thu. June 25 – Vancouver, BC @ The Fox Cabaret *
Fri. June 26 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge *
Sat. June 27 – San Francisco, CA @ Brick and Mortar *
Mon. June 29 – Costa Mesa, CA @ The Wayfarer *
Tue. June 30 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo *
Wed. July 1 – San Diego, CA @ The Casbah *
Thu. July 2 – Tucson, AZ @ The Flycatcher %
Fri. July 3 – El Paso, TX @ Lowbrow Palace %
Sat. July 4 – Austin, TX @ Red 7 %^
Sun. July 5 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada %^
Mon. July 6 – New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jack’s %^
Tue. July 7 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl %^^
Thu. July 9 – Asheville, NC @ New Mountain Theatre %^
Fri. July 10 – Indianapolis, IN @ Joyful Noise Records %^
Sat. July 11 – Columbus, OH @ Seventh Son Brewing Co. (Community Music Fest) %^

# w/ Eerie Wanda
@ w/ Venn
* w/ Calvin Love
% w/ Dinner
^ w/ EZTV