Abunai

Contemporary psychedelia at its best, the Boston quartet called Abunai! (Japanese for “look out!”), take their sophomore album deep into the future through the past. Reaching further back than their splendid ‘60s reference points, Abunai! builds on early British folk music, which acted as source material for many of their influences. Add in healthy doses of ambient space rock, sweet folk melodies, full-throttle fuzz guitar, back-tracked vocals and soft pop harmonies to get a unique cross between the Association, Fairport Convention, Teardrop Explodes and Spacemen 3. Two of the 12 tracks here are in fact new arrangements of the old traditional songs “Barbara Allen” and “Sweet William,” which augment the history-laden Mystic River Sound. The band take a brilliant tangent on their own historic obsessiveness with the album’s packaging. Presented as a satire on obscure compilations of forgotten music scenes, the album is presented as a collection of unsung suburban Boston psych bands. Each track is attributed to a different group, each with their own unique and hilarious history of Monty Python-esque proportions. The booklet includes photos of Abunai! dressed up as the various bands heightening the ultimate record collectors farce. With great band names like North End Molasses Disaster and the Merrie Shyrwode Rangers (pictured here) you’ll be amazed at the wonderful tunes they pen.