Something Else

Recording information: Berlin. The late-career bounty from the Brian Jonestown Massacre is beginning to rival that of the notoriously prolific Guided by Voices, with honcho Anton Newcombe setting up expectations that each new year is likely to add at least one more album to the band's catalog. Preceded by the announcement that it would actually be the first of two 2018 releases, the Bay Area expat offers up Something Else, a nine-song set with a rugged, back-to-basics (by Newcombe's standards, at least) rock & roll feel that harkens back to some of the Massacre's late-'90s output. Bearing the familiar, spacy, lo-fi patina that is one the band's sonic hallmarks, Something Else is altogether less meandering than 2017's spacious Don't Get Lost and 2016's cerebral Third World Pyramid, though it shares elements with both of those releases. The jangling, strummy, tambourine-adorned vibes that mark some of the BJM's more accessible '60s-inspired work can be heard here on a number of standouts, particularly the excellent "Psychic Lips," which also bears slight traces of Echo and the Bunnymen's '80s new wave melodicism. Opener "Hold That Thought" is another moody strummer with a captivating energy that was largely absent on the band's previous release. The pleasantly plodding fuzz of "My Love" segues into the more sprightly psych adventure "Who Dreams of Cats?" with the finale, "Silent Stream," echoing tones of Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd in its organ drones and heavily reverbed vocals. With the fountain of material springing out of Newcombe's Berlin studio in the first part of the 2010s, the quality level has been rather hit or miss, but Something Else is a solid effort and somewhat of a return to form for the veteran band. ~ Timothy Monger