Exploring the release of the Guelph band’s latest LP
Minotaurs released their new album Weird Waves on March 11, 2016. Weird Waves totals approximately 35 minutes between six songs of psychedelic pop jams with many other influencing sounds.
The album opens with “Underground Age,” which continuously builds throughout the first half of the song. A mellow groove is carried until it all begins to melt away like an intentional trip of poison—then, silence. The song picks back up close to the halfway mark, when the vocals come in. “Underground Age” is a relaxed psychedelic pop track with a great dynamic that makes the song feel like it keeps coming back like the tide.
“Stayed Too Long” is an upbeat song that belongs to no single genre or class. It could be best described as funky psychedelic pop with an air of jazz. The lyrics evoke imagery: “Took a hand that I couldn’t see, Come take me neon princess, It’s only business.”
The third track, “Weird Waves” has many very distinct sounds and noises that come at you in a way that is exactly as the title suggests, while the main beat continues to grow into an ambience of its own. In its last minute, the title track explodes into a fusion of noise that jives so well together, like chocolate and peanut butter; you just won’t know until you try it.
“Blind Luck” sets off like a bad trip coming on too strong. Then the notes of the keys bring you back down to earth and the jam gets right into another groove. It is a very eerie song with distorted vocals. The outro then slowly fades, setting you up for the next track.
“Gold Rush Lady” starts somewhere that “Blind Luck” left off. Where? We’ll never know. It’s definitely a new trip though—a happier one. The song breaks into a blissful beat after the eerie intro that leaves you knowing that the last track ended. The guitar comes in with a surfer riff along with the vocals. “Gold Rush Lady” has a very memorable and dreamy chorus with guest vocalist, Tamara Lindeman who adds chilling vocals to the repeating lines, “Anywhere you’re not, is the loneliest place.”
The last song on Weird Waves, “Echoes,” breaks into an eerie jam with muted guitar and a pulsing maraca beat. The instruments come in one at a time and the beat seems to progress into an order of chaos.
With Weird Waves, Minotaurs show exactly how dynamic and versatile they can be with familiar sounds, but their lyrics seem to take you on a strange journey, whether you drank the Kool-Aid or not. Weird Waves could be best described as an experimental psychedelic pop album that will leave you dazed and confused, yet still intrigued and craving more.