Mystic Braves

Surf-guitar quiver meets psychedelic jangle with a deftly melodic twist on Blackfeet Braves’ self-titled debut album. The L.A.-based combo (since renamed Blackbeat Braves) fashions a sound out of classic ‘60s components, recalling everyone from instrumental rock icons like Dick Dale and The Chantays to proto-punk units like The Seeds and The Electric Prunes. Rather than bask in reverb roar and freakout nightmares, the Braves stir up a mellow yet otherworldly atmosphere that suggests peyote-chewing beachcombers jamming in an eternal Pacific Coast sunset. Tracks like “Mystic Rabbit” and “Please Let Me Know” radiate a slinky sort of cool with twanging guitar washes and slinky rhythms. Shimmery vocal treatments add to the spacy import of “Trippin’ Like I Do,” “Vicious Cycle," and similarly insinuating numbers. “Oh So Fine” has a Tom Petty–ish bite under its murky surface, while “Hangin’ Round” approaches East L.A. Latin-rock terrain with its balmy textures. Here, the band weaves magic with an unpretentious air, paying homage to its influences without treating them with excessive reverence.