“Is everybody in?… Is everybody in?… Is everybody in? The ceremony is about to begin…” *

Act III of The Reverb Conspiracy ceremony is once more upon us, courtesy of Fuzz Club Records‘ co-release with The Reverberation Appreciation Society.

In the words of Fuzz Club’s Casper Dee, “I like to look at The Reverb Conspiracy as a modern Nuggets series. It’s our way of capturing the essence of the underground scene as it is today and documenting it for the history books. There’s so much amazing music coming out now and a huge energy within the scene; we feel like this is an era of rock ‘n’ roll that we’ll all look back on as the start of something big.” (Magnet Magazine 2014).

So, with no further ado, sit back, strap yourself in, press play on the SoundCloud link below and read on…

“this is the best part of the trip, this is the trip, the best part, I really like”…*

https://soundcloud.com/fuzz-club-records/sets/the-reverb-conspiracy-volume-3

London’s The Oscillation get the reverb party started, throwing down the gauntlet with ‘No Place To Go’, a driving ecstatic psych statement of intent, encapsulating the experimentation and DIY ethos of this collection. A perfect “scene” setter…

‘Moon’ by Madrid’s Holy Science is a blissed out neo-psychedelic, weaving, hypnotic, gravity free, lunar excursion.

Oslo noise-rocker’s Deathcrush, deliver a deliciously pummeling ‘You Now’, flexing their fuzzed out post-punk, high-octane credentials.

Side one closer, ‘Suddenlines’ by Berlin’s The History Of Colour TV, drops the tempo way, way down, with their shimmering sheets of dreamscape shoegaze.

Flipside intro, and a particular fave of mine released last year by Reykjavík’s Singapore Sling, is the bouncing punk psychabilly of ‘You Drive Me Insane’.

Dysfunctional trip, ‘Meltdown Corp’ by New Candys from Venezia, conjures gorgeously dislocated, psych-soaked abyssal plains.

Chanteuse fronted Toulouse band, Sound Sweet Sound‘s ‘Death Is On The Way’, delivers a veritable slice of nineties San Francisco neo-psych, shamanic, multi-instrumentalism.

Side two exits with Oristano’s Undisco Kidd discharging ‘Green Like An Alien’, a rousing garage punk-psych anthem for the disaffected.

And this is only half way through…

Pulses are again set racing on Side three with Berlin motorik maestros Camera, delivering their infectious syncopative stomp symphony, ‘Ausland’.

Continuing the vibe, ‘Side Effects’ by Paris cold-wave, noise merchants Future, is an exquisite existential exercise in “sharp guitar riffs, cold melodies and fractured drums”.

Liverpool’s Mugstar, warp in with their medieval tonally themed ‘Hollow Ox’, a sweeping, shape-shifting psychedelic cosmic rendering.

Side three closer, One Unique Signal‘s “space-kraut post-drone noise-core”, track ‘Tungsten’, showcases the London band’s innovative experimental edge, in all it’s layered druidic intoned glory.

Side four opens with one of my many live highlights from last year, ‘Hide From The Sun’ by Korpilombolo’s Goat, here given an Anton Newcombe surrealist sitar and pipe drone, remix therapy.

London based Lola Colt‘s ‘Away From The Water’, is a masterclass in soaring primal vocals and mescal-soaked, widest-of-all-possible-wide-screen, cinematic jangling riffage.

As with any DJ worth his salt, the curators of this hand crafted compendium, having enthralled us on this supersonic roller-coaster ride, complete the assisted comedown of all comedowns with a worthy finale.

‘As We’ve Been As One’, courtesy of the enigmatic Berlin based François Sky, featuring sitar guru Jeff Levitz, envelops and cushions with a pulsatingly sumptuous splashdown in the Sea of Tranquility…

Once again, Fuzz Club Records have pulled off an extraordinary feat. Not only have they captured the geographically diverse quintessence of this vibrant underground scene, but do so in a manner which will sate the jaded appetites of the converted, whilst appealing to those acolytes taking their first tentative psychedelic steps.

As with Volumes I and II, the ritual has been given masked form, in the shape of original Icelandic artwork by Jón Sæmundur of the Dead Skeletons.

The Reverb Conspiracy Vol. 3 double album, is limited to 1200 numbered copies on white vinyl with gate-fold cover, as well as a further 1000 copies of those new-fangled “CD’s”, (they’ll never catch on).

Due for release on 24th January, the album is available for pre-order now from the Fuzz Club Store.

(Don’t forget to click on each Band’s name above for more information).

*Quotes courtesy of The Doors…