Here Be Monsters
Here Be Monsters explores a gentler side of Motorpsycho without removing the tension from their music. Warm bass, layered guitars and vocal harmonies create a patient psychedelic sound. The quieter approach gives the arrangements room to develop, and the heavier moments become more striking because they arrive within such a carefully measured setting.
Lacuna Sunrise is central to that approach. Its deep bass line supports drifting keyboards and melodic guitar work, while the voices blend into the surrounding texture. The performance feels relaxed, but the different instrumental parts keep the long piece moving.
Running With Scissors gives the record another shade. Acoustic strumming, playful rhythms and lighter guitar playing maintain the warmer mood without simply repeating the previous song.
I.M.S. introduces a sharper contrast. Repeating piano patterns establish the opening before distorted lead guitar and more forceful drums interrupt the calm. The vocal harmonies remain melodic inside the rougher sound. That tension between the song's tune and its increasingly unruly playing makes it one of the most effective changes of pace.
Spin,Spin,Spin is more immediately welcoming. Organ and layered guitars give the cover a rich setting, with close harmonies helping the melody carry through. It offers a concise point of entry among the more gradually unfolding pieces.
Big Black Dog brings the album to its largest scale. Quieter guitar and singing lead towards a darker passage in which synthesizers and organ become more prominent. Heavy guitar figures and drums eventually give the piece greater force, while calmer moments prevent the intensity from remaining fixed.
The album offers less stylistic range than some of Motorpsycho's wider-ranging work, and its patient passages require a willingness to settle into the sound. Yet the arrangements contain enough melody and detail to make that restraint rewarding. Here Be Monsters is an absorbing psychedelic rock album that finds considerable strength in taking its time.
