Naked on The Vague, Pink Reason and Tyvek Coalesce at The Charleston

Tyvek live 2007 at the Hemlock Tavern photo by <a href=
Tyvek live 2007 at the Hemlock Tavern photo by Canderson
posted Friday Apr 4th, 2008

Tonight at the Charleston, the citizens of Brooklyn are in for quite a treat of an excellent selection of modern psychedelia. It not too often the that the stars align in such a way that allows for such a fantastic bill, but when they do, it can't be ignored. Naked On The Vague, an Australian 2-piece, have just re-released their debut album The Blood Pressure Sessions on vinyl on the coveted Siltbreeze label. Previously only available in CD format on Dual Plover records, the album covers the quit: weird and disjointed rhythms that transudes modern psych while lending a dark and macabre vibe.

Pink Reason, the Green Bay, Wisconsin outfit also have a home on Siltbreeze but play a more self-hating and introverted take on the kaleidoscopic formate. They turn it on its ear with ambient, droning sounds, and then step back by incorporating perfectly fitting acoustics. What really sets Pink Reason apart from the rest is headman, Kevin Failure's vocal offerings, which are delivered in an echo that comes off as wise and antagonistic at the same time, creating a perfect carriage for their music. Their live sets are notoriously inconsistent and the audience is always in for something they haven't experienced before, no matter how many times they may have seen them.

From Columbus, Ohio, Psychedelic Horseshit play in a similar field as both Naked On The Vague and Pink Reason, and they are also on the Siltbreeze label. But although their music is wonderfully aimless and perfectly asunder, that somehow evokes a flavor of dumpster folk psych that's just dangerous enough to scare the squares away, and keep the dabblers at bay.

The headliners tonight, Tyvek are from Detroit and are as close to traditionally mellifluous band as it's going to get this evening. But with their winding, almost accumulative song structures, and their vim for trading in honest and ebullient songwriting for musical prowess, clearly puts them at the head of the table. Together, it makes the flashy veneer of expertly executed performance seem as schmaltzy as a mime performing for the blind. The music starts at 9PM, so don't get a late start for this epic night in Brooklyn at the Charleston.

check out a video of Tyvek recording in January, courtesy of joekbcasey1, right here...

and here's a clip of Naked on the Vague from this year's Siltbreeze Showcase at SXSW...