Got a desperate need for some pleasant transcendence? The Lizards are here to heed your call. Their new release, She Goes Down, is a beautifully, blissed out open window from all the stuffiness of late. It masters the key components of gentle psychedelia: from softly oscillating guitars to a lilting rhythm section, ascending scales and woozy vocals with some other enticing little magic tricks thrown in. We could talk all day about how we’ve turned yet another corner of neo-psych and how fifty years ago, people didn’t listen to this kind of music, “it came on blotter paper, in tabs, man” but generally, all you need to know, is that She Goes Down infiltrates the mind like a fuzzy, dreamy spliff on a wet weekend.
The band themselves (Dan Whitehouse, Cameron Harris, Harry Shaw, Liam Radburn), hail from various provinces of the Black Country, home to Led Zeppelin, Charles Coulson and perhaps, most importantly, Lenny Henry. Their laid-back mysticality touches upon Brian Jonestown Massacre at their most merciful, Psychic Ills at their most hypnotic and The Stone Roses at their most stoned.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. Hey, a psychedelic band called ‘The Lizards’, that’s gotta be some ambiguous reference to Jim Morrison, amirite? Think again. In fact, think like David Icke. Think reptilian conspiracies in which Queen Liz(ard) herself prowls around Buckingham Palace with her scaly tail sweeping behind her, which makes sense when you listen to the band’s earlier tracks including “All Your Friends Are Lizards.”
Seemingly, the band have taken this idea and ran with it, as She Goes Down takes place inside the mind of an extra-terrestrial reptile called Earthquad, as seen in the suitably kaleidoscopic video. “Whilst visiting our planet, he encounters a beautiful woman and smokes many coneys,” the band have informed me. “When he hears music, his only reaction is to dance and make love. He takes his companion on a mind-bending journey and learns a valuable lesson himself.”
Oh, and also, happy 4/20 day.
The Lizards play an upcoming show with So Young favourites HMLTD and Dead Pretties on the 27th April, in Birmingham. Grab the remaining tickets on DICE here.