Sendelica- Spaceman Bubblegum and other weird tales
form the Mercury Mind
(R.A.I.G R026)
From Aural Innovations #38 (Jan 2008)
Welsh psyche/space rockers Sendelica storm the asteroid belt with this blazing follow-up to their inaugural disc earlier this year, Entering the Rainbow Light. Pete Bingham (guitar, electronics), Glenda Pescado (bass) and Paul Fields (drums), along with producer Colin Awen on keyboards, unleash a full metal jacket of psychedelic madness on the seven tracks that comprise Spaceman Bubblegum. The group’s arsenal of sound is quite impressive: the hypnotic pulse of Can, the impressionistic atmospherics of Pink Floyd, the motorized proto-punk of Neu, the space patrolling guitar pyrotechnics of Hendrix and the otherworldly ambiences of The Orb. All of this and more pervades virtually every track on Spaceman Bubblegum. “Sunfazed,” the album’s opening cut, melds early psychedelic Floyd with a mesmeric ostinato guitar/bass pattern that slowly spirals out into the ether before rocketing straight into “Spaceman Bubblegum #2,” a soaring track with some mind warping lead guitar that recalls the glory days of Manuel Gottsching in the original incarnation of Ash Ra Tempel. “It’s a Neu! Thing,” while well-intentioned in its unabashed homage to Rother and Dinger, is simply too repetitive and much too long to sustain interest. The group never quite breaks away from the rhythmic inertia that propels the song. But the cosmic jamming of “Siren” and “Indrid Cold” more than makes up for this temporary faux pas. Both tracks burn and smoke with the fires of a star going supernova. Bingham’s acid guitar attack is especially coruscating, leading the way through the dustlanes of some imaginary nebula at the heart of the galaxy. The album’s finale “Dawn of the Dub revisited” is pretty much what you’d expect and is, consequently, a minor letdown. But even here, the insistent bass line and swarms of synthesizer pads are enough to justify its inclusion. Their excesses aren’t yet fully tamed, but the enthusiasm and commitment is there.
Check the band's web sites at: http://www.myspace.com/sendelicapsyche
Check out the record label site at: http://www.raig.ru
Reviewed by Charles Van de Kree