Song: Psylus – ‘Untitled #4’
Stumbling across Psylus has pretty much made my day today. With a name like that I was expecting maybe an inexperienced dance producer who found it necessary to include ‘psy’ in his moniker so that there would be no confusion as to exactly what kind of music he would be attempting. Maybe they had taken inspiration from the mixtapes found on the superb ‘Psychedelic Psyblings’ blog and unashamedly attempted to establish some kind of intertextuality as a psych-rock outfit. By this logic I could have also reasoned that they were attempting to cash in on PSY, the Korean rapper responsible for ‘Gangam Style’, but in any case I was, of course, completely wrong in my multiple assumptions.
I clicked through to Psylus’s website and was immediately treated with 8 minutes of sensational free-jazz, a blend of scattered drum rhythms and spiralling play from countless bass, saxophone and piano improvisations. Their soundcloud account doesn’t even appear to have any actual songs; there are simply a handful of rehearsals and unscripted live performances on display, all equal in their sublime intricacy and absorbing playfulness. This is something I don’t come across nearly enough these days, and what’s even more astounding is that the 5-piece are all under 20 years old! They’ve only played a handful of gigs thus far, but it seems they are keen to share their talent with the rest of London as soon as they can. Treat yourself!
