Darker My Love - 2

2 (2008, Dangerbird) Darker My Love's second studio album. ****

Doing modern psychedelic music is a pretty tough act; drugs like LSD aren't nearly as commonly used as they were back in the late 60's, and most of the bands that did psychedelic music were self-indulgent. But modern bands such as MGMT and the Black Angels have tried to bring it back, and now another band, Darker My Love, has stepped up to the plate.

2 offers an eclectic mix of influences in its bag, with phases of the album exerting different sounds. The beginning is riff-heavy and recalls bands such as the Guess Who, especially on "Blue Day," which features a Steppenwolf-like sputtering organ. The Beatles and Cream show through on "White Composition," which has a jazzy drumbeat and a soft, rolling guitar melody. And an obvious tribute is paid to the Beatles on "Talking Words," which drops its excesses and features a deliberate imitation of Paul McCartney thirty seconds before it's out. 2 almost suffers from conjuring the sounds of too many influences (from the Velvet Underground to Radiohead), but the songs are so well crafted that it's hard to knock them. In fact, there are several moments that mark the music as primal; the airy psychedelic pop of "Even in Your Lightest Day" features a very chunky bass line, and "Northern Soul" has releases in its "Yeah yeah yeah's" that make the feeling organic. While there are no super-overdrawn "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vidas," some jams still take too much time, such as the Verve-inspired "All the Hurry and Wait," who's string arrangement is somewhat similar "Bittersweet Symphony," though it is still compelling. Surely they've some work to do, but 2 is still worth the listen, for several moments are magnificent. (Blue Day, Even In Your Lightest Day, All the Hurry and Wait)