Join the Mild High Club as US psych rockers make BJ debut

LA-based muso brings mile-high sounds to Beijing this Friday

Like rock, rock 'n' roll, punk or even Paul McCartney, psychedelia never really died, and for the best part of this last decade, it's been very much alive with a verve. Tame Impala are the poster boys of psych rock, Mac DeMarco's psychy flirts have made him an icon for the aspiring bedroom four-tracker, and jangly guitars and dreamy synths have hung out in every corner of the pop world, it seems.

Mild High Club, a front for LA-based muso Alexander Brettin, are such movers on the psych train, though you might call his brand a milder version of it too – taking some of its tastiest elements but foregoing long sonic explorations in favour of tight, well-packaged three- and four-minute songs. Take the cascading synths and groovy-as-hell bassline on the fantastic breakout single 'Windowpane', for example, or the dreamy steady rolling of 'Note to Self', both standouts on the 2015 debut Timeline.

Alexander Brettin. Image: G. Garitan via Wikimedia Commons

Brettin moved away from the lo-fi feel of that first record on 2016's follow-up Skiptracing, for a polished production filled with more complex arrangements, some jazzier progressions and funky flourishes. The title track, driven by whirly keys, chorus-lathered guitars and a cowbell, straddles a fine, fun line between sunny '80s pop, Steely Dan and the darn funkiest elevator music you ever heard; try 'Kokopelli' and 'Tesselation' for further smooth operations. Don't expect a circle pit to form at Omni Space, but for those about to chill, some excellent and fully legal Friday highs are on the way.

Mild High Club play Omni Space on Friday 14. Scan the QR code below for presale tickets.

Mild High Club's 'Skiptracing'. Via QQ

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