The Psych Ward– Night Music by Tones on Tail
The Psych Ward– Night Music by Tones on Tail
One day in college, a group of us were tripping on acid in the “meditation room”, an enclosed dormitory basement area that was filled with beanbags and supposedly reserved for meditating. I don’t remember much about that day other than the music, which was dark, psychedelic, and wonderful.
At some point after the trip, I asked what we’d been listening to and learned that it was Tones on Tail, a band I’d never heard of. Having a voracious appetite for good music, I caught a ride downtown to peruse the local music store bins. Voila! I found it on disc– Night Music.
With unique instrumentation, inspired execution, and quality songwriting, Night Music is engaging from start to finish.
It had a black cover with “Tones on Tail” at the top, a dusky image of the band members that looked straight out of an RKO horror film, and the album title in blue lettering at the bottom.
With unique instrumentation, inspired execution, and quality songwriting, Night Music is engaging from start to finish. There’s not a weak track on the album. In fact, it is one of the very few albums over an hour long that I can listen to in one sitting. Overall, the sound is dark, which isn’t surprising given that the band sprang from the ashes of goth-rock pioneers Bauhaus, but there’s a psychedelic element to it that Bauhaus didn’t possess.
The album, a compilation of 16 of the band’s best tracks, begins with a song called “War” which has a bouncy bass line and a refrain of “Here comes trouble”. The keys give it a skittish feel while guitarist Glenn Campling, a Bauhaus roadie, creates some eerie sonic effects.
It’s followed by “Go!”, a song that received play in dance clubs and has been included in several movies. This tune features a fuzzed-out bass, a steel drum motif, and a catchy “Ya ya ya” refrain.
In what seems to be a reflection of singer/lyricist Daniel Ash’s distaste for Christianity, Christian Says” is haunting and intense.
“Happiness”, with its loping bass line and brushes on the snare, is reminiscent of The Cure’s “Lovecats”, although lyrically saturnine.
“You, the Night, and Music” is creepy, horrifying, and otherworldly. It sounds like the dead are trying to communicate through the music.
A sonic representation of fear, “The Movement of Fear” uses whispered vocals and sparse keys to create frisson.
The album closes with a cover—a haunting, nightmarish version of “Heartbreak Hotel” that was captured live on cassette.
Night Music is a stunning compilation from a band that only released one studio album and was more of a side project than anything else. While another compilation, Everything!, collects every track the trio recorded, Night Music is better and more succinct.
But is it psychedelic?
I wouldn’t be writing about it here if it wasn’t. While Bauhaus is purely goth, Tones on Tail has an extra, lysergic ingredient that has to be experienced. The band invented dark psychedelia. This is one to be listened to late at night with lights off and headphones on.
Related: The Top 100 Psychedelic Rock Artists of All Time
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