Mystery Lights
Purgatory (black)
The Mystery Lights return with their most ambitious offering to date. With Wayne Gordon back in the producer's chair, the group delivers an eclectic mix of real-deal psychedelia, punk, art rock, and even a splash of country via the Kinks(y) pop earworm 'I'm Sorry I Forgot Your Name.' The psychedelic highlights of the album, 'Purgatory,' 'Cerebral Crack' and 'Can't Sleep Through the Silence,' are dark and trippy, landing somewhere between the guitar-driven, lysergic mayhem of the 13th Floor Elevators and the punked-up, tongue-in-cheek insanity of The Monks. But throughout there's a cohesiveness threaded by the elevated musicianship, earnest lyrics and attention to detail that make for a fiercely raw, yet unabashedly catchy album - dripping with all of the sing along hooks that have made The Mystery Lights one of the most exciting live bands on the scene.