Sic Alps - Napa Asylum (Drag City, 2xLP, 2011)
Not really sure what to do with this one. On the one hand, there’s pretty much nothing I enjoy more than fuzzy, dazed and warbly psych rock. But, and let’s be honest, that shit can get tiring if there isn’t a foothold in some concrete idea, and, after the first few listens to the 22 songs on Napa Asylum, I haven’t found what their angle is yet — if it’s even there.
Sic Alps have always seemed like the band that should be trying to invert and reinvent 60’s West Coast psych (a tall order, that one), and here they sound like they’ve been digging hard into Skip Spence’s Oar and taking that record’s grim, burnt out lessons for a spin. Well, certainly not the easiest road. The result is something foggier than even the very gray US EZ, not content to reach for the big riff/pop moments they’re capable of. And maybe that’s the point: in all but removing past releases’ fuzz-pocked moments that sent me occasionally reaching for the needle, they’ve taken a track that’s less immediate and more cerebral. However, in going cerebral, there’s a denseness to cut through which Napa Asylum isn’t going to do it for you. Nope, that’s up to the listener.
