SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: MYSTIC BRAVES – THE GREAT UNKNOWN

Mystic Braves
The Great Unknown
Lolipop Records

There’s a beach somewhere in Southern California where it’s been the Summer of Love for the last 50 years. The air is consistently thick with the same dizzying heat, and there is always a light mist floating along the horizon. It is from this beach that we receive a collect call from Mystic Braves, a low-fi psychedelic rock outfit who seek to make contact with the 2018 music scene via their latest release, The Great Unknown.

It’s easy for some of the songs on this album to blend together in a sun-kissed summer haze, what with all of its twangy guitar riffs and dreamy harmonies. However, there’s no denying that these seemingly carefree tracks have melancholic undertones; “What Went Wrong” is teeming with nostalgia and regret, while “Can’t Have Love” is a bluesy nod to unrequited affections.

Mystic Braves have crafted an album perfect for the Sunday of seasons, that sleepy transition from the end of summer into fall. Throw on The Great Unknown at your last late night bonfire before the air starts to chill, and keep it in your collection as a time capsule filled with the groggy lovesick heat of an era long lost.

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