Psych/Garage Rock charts

Review: 'Mordechai is another blissed-out record from Texan party-chill-psyche trio Khruangbin. It's also among the outfit's most defined and driven, a smooth, sticky hot funk odyssey made for hazy afternoon soirees. Leader Laura Lee is, as ever, unfathomably siren-like on vocals, her bass grooves aiding the process of seduction no end. Even at the most upbeat and anthemic, 'Time (You and I)', it's hard not to feel woozy and intoxicated by the pared-back breaks and guitar lick combination. Dance floor ammo for sure, as is Pelota. Overall, though, it's an album best savoured slowly, allowing you to fully appreciate every lackadaisical moment of opiate goodness, with tracks such as 'Father Bird, Mother Bird', 'One To Remember' and 'Shida' summoning stunning sticky, heavy, deep atmospheres.

Review: Turkey has always had a fascinating funk scene and Beybonlar has been at the heart of its contemoorary scene. HIs 2019 album Gelin Aysem on Arsivplak is a gold standard from the genre and one of its key singles gets serve dup on its own 7" with a special insert. The title track 'Gelin Aysem' opens up with psyched out guitars, plenty of lo-fi drums and wailing Turkish vocals that bring the exotic flavours. On the flip, 'Nenni' is a little harder and darker in its mood and groove.

Review: After years spent delivering heady fusions of deep funk and Afro-funk on Daptone Records, The Budos Band resurface on Diamond West, an imprint founded by two of the band's key members earlier this year. Their first missive on the California-based imprint is as rousing and fiery as ever, with their usual riotous and heavyweight sound being subtly expanded via nods towards psych-funk, Mariachi Band music and the funk-rock sound made famous by Sly and the Family Stone. The six scorching instrumentals on show are all superb, with our current favourites including the punchy 'The Devil Doesn't Care', the trippy solo-laden explosion that is 'KRITIN' and the deliciously psychedelic and suspenseful 'Curled Steel'.

Review: American psychedelic soul band Monophonics, together with lead vocalist Kelly Finnigan, are back once more with the single version of their most recent album highlight, the vocal hooker-inner 'Love You Better'. The band's tight instrumentation are laid down rather effortlessly, and come as testament to their ability to shine through a strongly warm, lo-fi sound. Lyrically, the song is bittersweet, with both Finnigan's solos and choral backing vocals pining after what could've been, despite the song commanding a new-leafy, life-goes-on mood of confidence.

Review: Seth Applebaum's NTC outfit Ghost Walk Orchestra originally released 'Brownout' on the Night Walker tape in 2016, distilling their hazy, psych-leaning funk sound into a perfect two-minute groove that shows off the band at their best. Now Karma Chief have pulled the track out of cassette obscurity and given it a pressing as a 7", backed up by 'Boneyard Baile' released the same year as a digi-only drop. If you love a moody funk jam played with finesse by a crack team, this record is a must.

Review: Top Sounds digs into the garage rock archives and has turned out some real treasure. The Syn were a short-lived but now cult outfit that, in 1967, released just two 45 rpms for the Deram label. Ever since then, fans of them and 60s rock alike, have fawned over them and collectors have paid high prices to own them. Now they can for a much more reasonable fee with this reissued 7" featuring the jaunty melodies and vocal harmonies of 'Created By Clive' and faster, harder more psyched out 'I'm Following You.'

Review: First came the digital exclusive, then the 7" repress. This newly reissued Numero version of The Belles' 'Melvin' is a throwback to the 1966 garage rock riffer by the all-girl group, known for their releases on two released Tiara Records around that time. A monologuing, excitable song, 'Melvin' hears the girls pine after one local stud, Melvin, who visits the narrator at midnight. The track is flanked by 'Come Back' and 'Unchained Melody', an instrumental jumper and a waltzing paean for Melvin's love, respectively.