WE'RE YOUR FRIENDS MAN

In 1987, Nick Saloman released his first homemade recordings as the Bevis Frond, Inner Marshland and Miasma, a pair of albums that made him sound like the most exciting new British artist of 1968. Time moves inexorably onward for the rest of us, but Saloman is still deep in the throes of vintage psychedelia, and 2018's We're Your Friends, Man makes it clear he has no intention of being dragged into the 21st century any time soon. If you've been following the Bevis Frond over the past three decades, We're Your Friends, Man will hold few surprises for you. The central focus of this music is still the looking-skyward murmur of Saloman's vocals, the gently trippy bent of his melodies, and the sheets of gale-force guitar solos he lays over it all that invoke the spirits of Neil Young and David Gilmour (at least when he isn't strumming his acoustic). Some might bemoan the lack of expansive creative ambition in Saloman's work, but the truth is, he knows what works for him, and he's very good at it. Saloman and his bandmates -- guitarist Paul Simmons, bassist Adrian Shaw, and drummer Dave Pearce -- sound fresh and committed on We're Your Friends, Man, and while this set stretches 20 tunes across two discs, nothing here sounds tossed off or meant as filler. Saloman's skills as a tunesmith and guitarist are in great shape, and one's reaction to the extended soloing on tracks like "Lead On" (which runs eight minutes) and "You're on Your Own" (13 minutes!) might be a matter of taste, but if you have a soft spot for the guitar heroes of the Golden Age of Psych, you're almost certain to enjoy them. And while Saloman's electric side dominates this album, the acoustic-oriented "Venom Drain," "Little Orchestras," and "Mad Love" confirm he knows how to maintain his focus at a lower volume. If you've ever enjoyed the Bevis Frond's journey through the past, We're Your Friends, Man proves that they (he?) haven't lost a bit of their vision and skill, and while it's hard to say where one should start investigating the Bevis Frond's massive body of work, this will give you the lay of the land just as well as most of their albums. ~ Mark Deming