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Buffalo Daughter Pshychic Released in 2003 7.7/10 Styles Space Rock Psychedelic Pop Electronic Song Highlights Cyclic Chiuhuahua Punk 303 Live |
Japanese weirdo trio Buffalo Daughter haven't made much of an impact outside of their home country. Most people who recognise the name will probably only remember them from their guest appearance on Air's second album, 10,000Hz Legend. At 5 tracks total, with track times ranging from 3 to 20 minutes, Pshychic is one bizzare album. Dense layers of synth, guitar, vocal effects and atmospheric backing open the first track "Cyclic," a fitting title for a track based around pulsating, krautrock-esque, loops. Each track on the album has a hypnotic, spacey kind of feel. Buffalo Daughter fully employ the conventions of space-rock on Pshychic, with subdued, repeating sections, leading into unexpected (yet perfectly timed) crescendos. However, rather than the guitar drone and string sections of most space-rock, Pshychic utilizes instrumentation typical of psychedelic pop (with a distinctive anime edge), which gives the album an odd combination of lengthy drifting song structures with upbeat, poppy components. It's an interesting amalgam of styles, which make the album a highly fascinating listen. The other winning factor on Pshychic is the group's surrealist sense of humour. For example, on the third track, "Chihuahua Punk," samples of dogs barking are warped, alternating between slowed down and sped up, resulting in some completely ridiculous sounds. There are vocals, predominantly in Japanese (although translations are included in the liner notes), interspersed sparsely across the album. For the most part, these vocals are fairly unremarkable, so it's for the best that Buffalo Daughter don't rely on them for the majority of the album. With Pshychic, Buffalo Daughter have created an album of psychedelic space-pop, which is highly entertaining and strikingly original. Extremely weird, but highly recommended none the less. |