Nuclear Psychology

Weird Owl’s 2007 debut Nuclear Psychology, makes good on the first half of the Brooklyn quintet’s moniker. The lengthy droning “Like 100,000 Sunsets” kicks out the weird so authentically (especially that old warbling organ), it could be easily mistaken for late-‘60s psychedelic space-rock. Similarly, “Thy Space Grows Long” is so hypnotic in its continuous pulses and undulations of guitar feedback and unchanging organ notes; it’s possible the band may have been musing on a mantra. “White Hidden Fire” opens with the rootsy guitar tones of an old Neil Young & Crazy Horse recording before reverb-drenched singer Trevor Tyrrell comes in singing and the song softly explodes into a sludgy storm of feral feedback. Just when you think the tune is about to end, it unfolds into continuous layers of complex arrangements and tension built in an antagonistic call-and-response between the guitar and drum kit. Amazing how a little tremolo and tambourine can make everything sound so ‘60s — “Tickle the Invisible” sounds wonderfully inspired by early Pink Floyd, though the cover art mocks 1973’s Dark Side of the Moon.