The Richmond Sluts “Psychoactive Sounds”

I think we have remarked before that this band had us won over immediately with their name. Thankfully, they have also released a crop of albums that live up to their moniker. They’ve always delivered the sound of a great rock n roll band, hell bent on having fun and causing trouble.

Opening track “Top Of The Night” certainly doesn’t disappoint. It’s the kind of classic sleazy garage rock track that the band have proven so adapt at delivering. Songs like “A Push” and “Killin Eyes” means that there are plenty of numbers to keep established fans of the bands’ sound more than happy.

As the title implies, “Satisfaction (I Want You)” has a glorious Stones esque sound to it. When they smash out songs like “What You Gonna Do Now” and “Lights Go Out” they perfectly capture that sense of swagger that Richards and Jagger had at their youthful prime.”Foolish Delight” is a great mixture of melody and danger.

We also love it when they turn up the organ on tracks like “Chasing Tail” and “The Third Eye”. The swirling sound of these songs brings a sense of the psychedelic menace that you associate with The Doors. It is perhaps not that surprising then that the vocals on the slower and moody “The Used” really reminds us of Michael Hutchens (a definite Morrison disciple). There can be no denying that the band have a retro garage rock sound, but it’s not old fashioned. There are a whole host of bands that have launched careers off the back of tunes that are no different in style to the likes of “Who Knew” (hello The Strokes and Jack White!). They’re a band that deserves a big break. The fact that you can get this album as a free download from their Bandcamp site (LINK) means you MUST add this to your collection. But make sure that you give the band a tip, because we all need to at least make a small contribution to allow the band to keep delivering sweet rock n roll music for us to enjoy.