Psychedelic rock dominated sixties culture to an obscene extreme. To the point where most of today’s rock music possibly contains an element of psychedelia. Fire up an Indie Rock music station / playlist and you’re sure to hear fuzz, sitar, wah effects, complex time signatures, a strong keyboard presence, and more.
Oh yeah, and drugs. That was very important.
Once the 60s ended, most of these psychedelic bands developed new sounds, mainly pushing the boundaries of Heavy Metal and Progressive Rock.
In the 1980s, bands that were heavily influenced by Psychedelic Rock were considered Neo-Psychedelic. This was due to the fact that they put their own twist in the middle, otherwise they would have been cover bands showing old but good.
Neo-psychedelic music is basically any band after the 60s / 70s that produced a psychedelic sound. Due to modernization and a multitude of new styles, these bands never produced a true Psychedelia. They were Neo.
Here’s a list of my 10 favorite neo-psychedelic bands from the 1980s:
10. THE DUKES OF STRATOSPHEAR:
Most of the people know the members of this band with the nickname of XTC. XTC wanted to release a couple of albums to pay tribute to Psychedelia, but it wouldn’t fit their electro disco rhythms. Cue The Dukes of Stratosphear. They were a flash on the screen, releasing a mini album (“25 O’Clock”) in 1985 and a full album (“Psonic Psunspot”) in 1987. A cute little artifact: in the credits of XTC’s “Skylarking” album. , the band thanked The Dukes for lending them their guitars.
*** Suggested songs: “What In The World?”, “Your Gold Dress”
9. THE RAIN PARADE
A short-lived band, active between 1981 and 1988 (but also recently reformed in 2012), The Rain Parade emerged from the Paisley Underground scene in Los Angeles. Jangly guitars dominate the spectrum, reminiscent of early Pink Floyd, The Who, and the Beatles midway through their careers. A little more toned down, but with some great inspiring music. Inspiration for what? You are the judge.
*** Suggested songs: “I Look Around”, “Look Both Ways”
8. THE GLOVE
Mainly notable for the union of Robert Smith and Siouxsie from The Cure and Steven Severin from Banshees, this is New Wave Psychedelia. The Glove, named after the flying glove from The Beatles movie “Yellow Submarine”, only released one album, “Blue Sunshine”, named after the horror movie of the same name in which people take a form of LSD called “Blue Sunshine”. and go on a murder spree.
*** Suggested songs: “Orgy”, “Punish me with kisses”
7. THE LEGENDARY PINK DOTS
One of the strangest of this group. LPD is an Anglo-Dutch band originally from London, moved to Amsterdam. They have released 40 albums, almost all outside the mainstream. However, they do have a following and tour regularly. His 1980s production is primarily synthpop-based Psychedelia. Perfect 80s / 60s crossover.
*** Suggested songs: “Sleezo”, “Wall Purges Night”
6. THE UNION OF DREAMS
Another band from Paisley Underground and led by Steve Winn, The Syndicate was an 80s version of The Velvet Underground. With loud, raw guitars on top of smooth bass and reverberated drums, Steve Winn rocked with his sock off, finding instant hit in Los Angeles. However, they apparently started having trouble with commercial success very early on at the concert. They also opened for REM and U2. Unfortunately the main label didn’t like a demo of them, “Slide Away”, and they left A&M Records. Apt title
*** Suggested songs: “Loving The Sinner Hating the Sin”, “Never Ending Rain”
5. SPACERS 3
These Englishmen were a bit antagonistic, they chose to play “anti performances”. Peter Kember and Jason Pierce played their guitars sitting down with their backs to the audience. They reportedly “disenfranchised anyone who came across them.” They wanted to make it known that people were there because they got the band and their music. His audience wanted to be there.
*** Suggested songs: “2:35”, “Walking with Jesus”
4. THE SOFT CHILDREN
Technically more of a ’70s band, but within our’ 80s guidelines here because they came out in the 1980s with the release of “Underwater Moonlight.” Post-punk instilled a psychedelic that was like a child of love between The Clash and the later Beatles. One of the crudest on the list, too bad these guys were just an incident on the scene.
*** Suggested songs: “I Wanna Destroy You”, “I Got the Hots”
3. SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES
Directed by Siouxsie Sioux from London, the Lady and the Banshees, as The Times quotes, were “one of the boldest and most uncompromising musical adventurers of the post-punk era.” Especially on their third album, “Kaleidoscope”, they explored Psychedelic Gothic New Wave, uniting synths and citars with drum machines to form a dark dissociative journey that, ironically, you want to repeat over and over again.
*** Suggested songs: “Desert Kisses”, “Skin”
2. THE CHAIN OF JESUS AND MARY
Brothers Jim and William Reid started this guitar-based noise called Shoegaze in 1983. Take The Velvet Underground, add droney-distorted guitars on the wazoo and violent stage shows, and you’ve got TJAMC. Bands like The Brian Jonestown Massacre had nothing on these guys. These people had something to say, a pain formulated amid a frustrated noise, indistinguishable but operating in the back of the listener’s mind, metastasizing into a pleasant understanding.
*** Suggested songs: “Just Like Honey”, “Gimme Hell”
1. MY VALENTINE
Here comes the noise, and the noise is the drug. Hailed as the loudest band on Earth, they actually hand out earplugs to the public before a show. His “magnum opus” “Loveless” was released in 1991, considered by many to be one of the best albums of the 90s, but MBV released a series of albums between 1985 and 1989, the most notable “Isn’t Anything”. This is the dark side of Psychedelia, a precursor to the astonishing production of ’90s angst and rage in mainstream music. A dark journey, but from which you do not want to get off.
*** Suggested songs: “Lose My Breath”, “Cupid Come”
