samedi 1 Oct 2011, 8h09m

New or old? Either way it’s an interesting Phase…
Lately, it seems, I’ve had a bit of a yen for artists doing something a little bit different within my favoured genres. I’m detecting a particular trend for this kind of experimentation to be labeled “psychedelic”, perhaps for lack of a better term, or perhaps psychedelia itself synonymous with experimentation – considering the roots of the genre, I guess that makes sense.

Anyway, I was having a bit of a browse of the new releases over at Amie Street and happened to catch a new (-ish) single called Perdition by a band named Phase. I say “-ish” because the band, hailing from Greece, formed in 2003, and the single was featured in Microsoft’s Playlist Seven program earlier in the year. (By the way, I don’t actually know what this program is as I’d never heard of it before I saw it mentioned in the band’s bio, and I have no shame in saying I don’t care what it is, either. Microsoft = bleh, to me).

I’m not overly sure why they’ve been tagged with psychedelic, but my immediate reaction upon hearing the track was “The Tea Party meets Depeche Mode“. A couple more listens later and I stand by that frame of reference. Particularly since, in googling for more info, I found a YouTube video of the band playing a live cover of TTP’s Fire In The Head, so I feel sufficiently justified there. The Depeche Mode ref comes from the electro-rock elements, which are blended pretty well with some nice, Middle Eastern sounds. (By the way, that link will take you to the vid – I’m not embedding it as, while a pretty decent cover, sound quality leaves a little bit to be desired. Methinks it would have sounded pretty awesome had one been there, though – Side note, I’ve been following Jeff Martin via Facebook and the last couple of months there’s been talk of a the Tea Party reunion. Sweet).

Back to Phase, however… If you pay a visit to their blog, you’ll be able to read a few lyrics, as well as listen to Perdition via Soundcloud. (Or, download over at Amie Street). I’m impressed enough by this track to think the band warrant further investigation – if they get all their elements right (which may call for a slight improvement lyrically >_>) they have the potential to be doing some pretty awesome things on upcoming album In Consequence, described on their blog as “a dark, rolling, mysterious album where rock music meets folk and industrial sounds“. This, I am intrigued by – full judgement remains reserved…

S4E