Axxa /Abraxas

23-year-old Georgia-based art student Ben Asbury is part of a small-scale DIY movement that combines art and music, with a preference for ‘60s psychedelic pop dipped in fuzz, organ, and reverb. Upon seeing his silkscreened prints and hearing his sweet, energetic songs, the Brooklyn label Captured Tracks signed him. With the help of Woods members Jarvis Taveniere (Asbury’s producer) and Aaron Nevue (Asbury’s drummer), they moved Ben into a professional recording studio. The result is this trippy, psychedelic album that sounds like a lost classic from the late '60s. Of course, groups like Olivia Tremor Control and the entire Elephant 6 collective have already obsessed over this musical territory, but every young musician brings something new to the obsession. Songs like “Going Forth,” “I Almost Fell,” “Same Signs," and “Painted Blue” have an openness of spirit that forgives whatever derivative sins there might be. The wall of sound starts with trebly rhythm guitars and a constant organ and soon fills up with further colorations, usually in the shape of falsetto vocals, Byrds-like harmonies, and what sounds like a theremin.