WL//WH Premiere EXPLODING FLOWERS
photo by Dean Yoshihara
The highly esteemed Los Angeles group Exploding Flowers, staples of the local DIY underground music scene, seamlessly bridge 60s West Coast and British daydreams with ’80s Dunedin and Paisley Underground glimmers, into a dazzling kaleidoscopic melange of Jangle, Psych and Power Pop sound emotions, painstakingly chiseled with an elegant, crystal clear melodic refinery, magnificently nestled in a timeless resonant spot between past and future.
A shimmery and swirling guitar-laden pop sound colored by a rich, lush instrumentation of piano, organ, synthesizers, vibraphone, glockenspiel and heady vocal harmonies, sits on top of a foundational rhythm section.
Nearly five years after the sophomore “Stumbling Blocks,” the band are fresh from releasing their third album, “Watermelon/Peacock,” via Meritorio Records and Leather Jacket Records (AUS/NZ).
Led by Sharif Dumani, who has worked with a variety of artists including Alice Bag, Cody Chesnutt, Sex Stains, the Moon Upstairs, Classics Of Love, Nick Garrie, Jowe Head, Nikki Sudden, Silver Apples and many more, the quartet is comprised of members Josh Mancell (the Moon Upstairs, Cell\Borg), Happy Tsugawa-Banta (Lassie Foundation, Ray Barbee), and Mark Sogomian (the Moon Upstairs), joined on this release by UK indie veterans Rachel Love of seminal pop legends Dolly Mixture, and Jowe Head of D.I.Y. legends Swell Maps and post-punk/mod/psychedelia legends Television Personalities.
LP artwork by artist and musician Jill Emery (Hole, Mazzy Star)
A fine specimen of a surreal Psych-Pop tune with a Beatles-esque flair, Rachel Love‘s endearing voice and buoyant cello coalesce into an intoxicating, erratic and meandering interweaving of rambling fuzzed, ringing guitars, shifting drums, juddering bass lines, and rolling tinkly keys, to spark a shivering melancholic, squalling breeze over a nostalgic male/female vocal interplay of angsty longing and dreamy gloom, to explore the notion of how friendly support aids in one’s ability to take things in stride.
In the accompanied video, directed by Joey Halter, Exploding Flowers wear 1950s-inspired formal attire while performing “All In Stride” against an array of colorful cosmic imagery. Not only is the natural landscape enhanced with psychedelic hues, but the symbolic animations, backdrops, and hand-crafted instrumentation also shine with prismatic haloes to create a surreal timelessness of imaginative introspection.
Exploding Flowers‘ third studio album “Watermelon/Peacock” is out now, on Vinyl 12″ & Digital, via Meritorio Records and Leather Jacket Records (AUS/NZ).
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