The Best Psychedelic Album by Year 1966-2024 Part Two
The Best Psychedelic Album by Year 1966-2024 Part Two
The Twenty-First Century
The new millennium brought changes to the world of psychedelic rock. Styles merged as electronic instrumentation made its way into more of the music. Some bands melded 60s-style rock with modern production techniques while others were able to make big-sounding psychedelia from the comfort of their bedrooms as high-quality home recording became affordable. Additionally, psychedelic music festivals like the Austin Psych Fest made a comeback, thanks primarily to the Reverberation Appreciation Society, which includes members of the Black Angels.
2000
Dead Meadow—Dead Meadow
Dead Meadow’s eponymous debut album ushered in the new millennium with a new type of psychedelic sound: loosely structured songs driven by a wah-wah-heavy guitar and reticent, barely noticeable vocals. This raw work illustrates that Dead Meadow is a band with potential rather than one that hits its mark right out of the gate. The three-piece band would become one of the most prominent psych groups of the first quarter of the 21st century.
2001
Dilate—Bardo Pond
Sometimes it’s difficult to discern between a psych band and an experimental one. Dilate is an album that may sound more experimental than psychedelic, but the band itself is decidedly psych. Several of their albums are named after psychedelic substances like Amanita (magic mushroom) and Bufo Alvarius (5-MeO-DMT). The title of this record most likely comes from what happens to one’s pupils while tripping. In any case, this album is psychedelic enough to be the best psychedelic rock album of 2001.
Honorable Mention: Circulatory System-Circulatory System, Rise and Fall—The Warlocks
2002
Phoenix—The Warlocks
The Warlocks’ hit the mark with their album, Phoenix, a druggy, Velvet Underground-inspired alt-rock affair that sounds downright trippy at times. With a drone and retro sounds similar to Spacemen 3, this album retains some pop sensibilities to frame its psychedelic tendencies.
Honorable mention: Each One Teach One—Oneida
2003
Shivering Kings and Others–Dead Meadow
Dead Meadow comes into their own on Shiverings Kings and Others. The three-piece is tighter and the vocals are more confident on this one than their previous releases. At times, the vocals are distant and haunting, but overall, this record is heavy psych, or what some call stoner rock. Shivering Kings and Others is possibly the band’s finest effort.
2004
Ta Det Lugnt—Dungen
Despite its 2004 release, Ta Det Lugnt sounds like 70s psychedelic prog-rock. Ringleader Gustav Ejstes uses only vintage instruments on Ta Det Lugnt and you can tell. Nothing on this album sounds as modern as 2004. This is old-school rock with a blistering, fuzzed-out electric guitar. The trumpets, flutes, and organs occasionally lend a jazzy vibe to the album, but there is a lot of stylistic variation. The Swedish lyrics don’t detract but add to the psychedelic appeal. Honorable mention: Secret Wars—Oneida, Satanic Panic in the Attic—Of Montreal
2005
The Wedding—Oneida
Oneida is a seriously underrated band that makes an experimental type of psychedelic rock that incorporates disparate influences. On The Wedding, the band veers from baroque pop to garage punk to Eastern mysticism seamlessly evoking a sense of psychedelia along the way. It’s psychedelia with an edge, though, as this album will lull you with strings and pummel you with thunderclap.
2006
Passover—The Black Angels
The Black Angels’ debut album Passover, which was fitted into a textured and trippy CD cover, is darkly psychedelic with themes of death and war throughout. It’s an intense, hard-edged record that utilizes a drone machine and a healthy amount of reverb on singer Alex Maas’s lead vocals. The last track “Call to Arms” is listed at 18 minutes, but it ends at 10:42 and is followed by three and a half minutes of silence before the hidden track, a cover of Jimmy Cliff’s “Vietnam” ends the album with lyrics updated to reference the Iraq War.
2007
Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?—of Montreal
On Hissing Fauna, Kevin Barnes is an artist firing on all cylinders. Despite its theme of real-life divorce, this is a wonderful psychedelic pop album. He manages to create a unique style of psychedelia without relying on old tropes or conventional psychedelic instrumentation–all while delivering lyrics that are relatable, poignant, and amusing. Additionally, the album is brilliantly produced by Barnes.
2008
2—Darker My Love
Surprise, surprise! This little-known band, named after a song done by TSOL for the movie Suburbia in 1982, delivered the best psych album of 2008. 2 is an excellent, but obscure and under-appreciated pop-rock gem that features an original psychedelic sound created mostly by wah-wah and distorted guitar effects. There are some great melodies, nice harmony vocals, searing lead guitar solos, and even a couple of tracks with strings. This unheralded record needs to be heard!
2009
Merriweather Post Pavilion—Animal Collective
Some may say Merriweather Post Pavilion isn’t a true psych record, but there are plenty of psychedelic moments on this highly inventive indie pop album. Known for making experimental, synthesizer-driven pop, Animal Collective uses non-traditional song structures, unusual rhythms, and heavenly harmonies to create a psychedelic world of wonder. This isn’t just the best psych album of 2009, it’s one of the best overall albums of the year.
2010
InnerSpeaker—Tame Impala
This album made Kevin Parker an indie-rock superstar and one of the most sought-after producers in the biz. Highly influential, InnerSpeaker ushered in a new era of neo-psychedelia that focused more on vibe than songwriting. With a standard mix of guitar, bass, and drums, Parker adds keyboards and various electronics to achieve a pleasantly modern lysergic soundscape that inspired countless “chill” psych bands. The songs don’t stand apart from one another, but it doesn’t seem to matter. InnerSpeaker provides an enjoyable glide through a copacetic horizon of psychedelic sound.
2011
Ancient Romans—Sun Araw
There was some stiff competition in 2011 from the likes of Wooden Shjips, Moon Duo, and Unknown Mortal Orchestra, but the best psych album of the year goes to Ancient Romans by little-known act Sun Araw, the project of Cameron Stallone.
This synth-heavy Greek-inspired double album clocks in at an hour and 19 minutes, but rarely drags. With otherworldly synths, spacey vocals, unchartered lead guitar, and electronic effects, this album sounds like a trippier version of a Tangerine Dream record. Stallone uses copious amounts of delay and echo on vocals, non-traditional song structures, and rhythms that resemble pulses and ticking clock beats. Ancient Romans is a pleasant and rewarding psychedelic voyage that is well worth a listen.
2012
Lonerism—Tame Impala
It’s rare when a psychedelic record becomes a massive hit, but Tame Impala’s Lonerism is just that. This synth-driven psychedelic pop-rock gem was orchestrated by Australia’s Kevin Parker, one of the busiest blokes in the business, and spawned thousands of imitators. Better than the band’s debut Innerspeaker, Lonerism boasts improved songwriting as evidenced by tunes like “We Only Go Backwards” and “Elephant”. It’s a layered, dreamy mist of swirling synths and psychedelic effects by a remarkable sound designer and is recognized as one of the best albums of the 2010s.
2013
We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic–Foxygen
We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic, the sophomore set from California duo Foxygen, is high-quality indie pop that is a delight for the ears. Heavily influenced by 60s pop and classic rock, it’s a catchy, unapologetic record with plenty of subtly trippy touches. The album’s highlight “San Francisco”, is an infectious, memorable tune brimming with familiar sonic references. This album is a must-listen! Honorable mentions: Ceres and Calypso in the Deep Time by Candy Claws, Float Along- Fill Your Lungs by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard.
2014
Sun Structures—Temples
When the English band known as Temples dropped Sun Structures in 2014, it seemed simultaneously familiar and new. The production sounded modern, but the music itself utilized sonic tricks straight out of the swinging 60s: backward-tracked guitars, mellotron, and luscious harmonies. This top-notch psych-pop album can be enjoyed equally by Boomers, Xers, and Millennials. Honorable mention: Midnight Sun by Ghost of a Sabre-Toothed Tiger, III by Bo Ningen.
2015
Mutilator Defeated at Last—Thee Oh Sees
John Dwyer of Thee Oh Sees is at his best here with cool songs that intersect at the corners of Psychedelic Street and Heavy Rock Road. Not for the fainted-hearted, the band kicks out the jams with punishingly intense guitar riffs, echo-y vocals, and pummeling, gonzo drumming. Hang on to your hats because Mutilator Defeated at Last is a wild garage-punk ride down Lysergic Lane.
2016
Nonagon Infinity—King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
The Australian band King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard is exceptionally talented and prolific. Nonagon Infinity, often considered the band’s best, is the group’s 8th studio album in just four years. It’s an intense record with an incomprehensible, frenetic energy that combines elements of psych, prog, and metal, and one in which the songs run together with hardly a break. It’s an amazing auditory experience!
2017
Gumboot Suit— King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
In a year that saw King Gizzard release five albums—you read that right—it seems likely that the band would score the top psych album of the year, and such is the case. Their album Gumboot Suit is our pick for the best of 2017, and it is very different from Nonagon Infinity. Although it includes a couple of rockers, it’s more of a psychedelic pop album, and the songs are more diverse and distinctive. It’s another triumph from these unbelievably prolific Aussies.
Honorable mention: Robyn Hitchcock s/t, Flying Microtonal Banana by King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
2018
MIEN-MIEN
It’s amazing that this band is so obscure considering it features prominent members from The Black Angels, Elephant Stone, and The Horrors. If this isn’t a neopsych supergroup, I don’t know what is. Consisting of a deep collective knowledge of psychedelic music, MIEN’s eponymous, sole album is loaded with neo-psychedelic sorcery. From start to finish, the LP delivers one song after another of superb psychotomimetic splendor.
Honorable mention: Smote Reverser by Oh Sees.
2019
Face Stabber—Thee Oh Sees
John Dwyer and crew manage to squeeze more psychedelic magic into their heavy garage-rock sound than any other band that might be considered heavy psych. Face Stabber is an unmitigated, high-energy, madcap expedition featuring unique guitar solos, unusual song structures, and an imaginative use of effects leading to a variety of sounds you wouldn’t expect to hear on a garage-rock record. It’s an exciting, weird album that runs an hour and 20 minutes, yet doesn’t drag for a second.
2020
KG—King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
KGLW is a crazy-talented band that continues to fire on all cylinders. They take home the prize again with this semi-eponymous LP, which is less frenetic than some of their previous work and tinged with an Eastern vibe that seems to come from the guitar tuning rather than the instrumentation itself. KG may not be this prolific band’s best album or even one of their top five, but it’s still a damn good one and it’s our pick for the best psychedelic rock album of 2021.
Honorable mention: Nothing as the Ideal by All Them Witches.
2021
LW—King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
With KGLW’S KG taking the top spot in 2020, it’s only fitting that the band’s bookend piece LW (link review) would claim the prize in 2021. The album was one of just two released by the insanely prolific Australian band. The other, Butterfly 3000, is a fantastic album, too, but is a tad less psychedelic than LW, which contains more odd tunings and Eastern touches. Butterfly 3000 gets an honorable mention here, as does Matt Berry’s The Blue Elephant.
2022
Oh Death-Goat
The mysterious and hooded Swedish band named Goat, who claims to hail from a small, voodoo-worshiping northern town named Korpilombolo, have been making excellent, unique psychedelic music since the release of their debut album World Music in 2012. With Oh Death, the aggregation melds its familiar African beats with a darker vibe, some spoken word interludes, and a bit of dissonant jazz saxophone. The result is an eerie, but danceable album that stands out as both a different kind of Goat record and the best psychedelic record of 2022.
2023
Medicine—Goat
With Medicine, Goat makes it clear that it is one of the top psychedelic rock bands of the modern age. They’re a band that’s firing on all cylinders, and they should be reaching a wider audience. The group, which features female and male vocals, mixes rock with flutes, sitars, tribal beats, tasteful use of reverb, and greasy, distorted guitar leads. Medicine is a stellar album in which every song is psychedelic, making it the best psychedelic album of 2023.
Honorable mention: Gardeners of the Earth by White Canyon & 5th Dimension
2024
Goat—Goat
This eponymous album casts Goat as the top psychedelic rock band of the 2020s so far. It’s another creative and heavily psychedelic album. The band is rated high among critics and listeners, and when they want to be, they are masters of psychedelia. It’s too bad they haven’t yet achieved the audience they deserve. Wild heavily distorted lead guitar, this is inspired psychedelic rock with unknown female vocals by a mysterious Swedish band dressed in robes and masks. It’s reminiscent of 70s classic rock but combined with world rhythms and ghostly sound effects like the transition from “Dollar Bill” to “Zombie.”
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