Green Seagull first introduced themselves last year with two very groovy 7” singles released by the good folk at Mega Dodo. A London Psych Pop “supergroup” of sorts including members of New Electric Ride, Magnetic Mind and The Lysergics, Green Seagull are 60s Psychedelia obsessives, (cut them and they will bleed Paisley), and would be the first to admit that they are not pushing the envelope or breaking boundaries but are playing the music they love. Their harmony-laden Baroque/Freakbeat sound draws upon influences such as the Left Banke, the Kinks, and the Association and exists trapped in a time bubble somewhere between 60s swinging London and the psychedelic daze of 1967 S.F.. Landing at the end of the month, it would be fair to describe their debut album, Scarlet Fever, more of a sum of their influences than Green Seagull having stamped their own distinctive mark on the Neo-Psych genre, sounding more like a classy homage in the style of The Dukes Of Stratosphear than taking the late 60s as a starting point and exploring their own sonic path…………..but, hey, nothing wrong with that and Green Seagull’s retro sounds fit the ethos of Mega Dodo perfectly.
Stylistically Green Seagull mix the suburban psychedelia of late 60s BritPsych bands with the more expansive sound of the Folk Rock/Baroque Psych Pop American bands such as H.P. Lovecraft, Serpent Power, Sweetwater and Daughters Of Albion……with a bigger recording budget Scarlet Fever is the kind of record that would likely be bathed in Mellotrons and woodwind arrangements. It’s a pretty accurate facsimile of the period where the Psychedelic sounds from the States were being filtered into the consciousness of the more creative British bands. In an era when most new Psych LPs sound like Hawkwind, CAN and Sonic Youth fighting to the death in a distant galaxy, Green Seagull are still partying like it’s 1967 and seriously digging it. Comprising of 14 self penned tracks, including the early singles ‘Scarlet’ and ‘(I Used To Dream In) Black and White’ with their respective B-Sides, Scarlet Fever is a very solid debut record on the whole and Green Seagull are definitively a band worth keeping an eye on for the future.………..however the album has been front loaded with the best tunes on the first side, starting to run out of steam towards the the end of the flip side and would have maybe worked better as a mini-album. There are going to be better records this year, but for any discerning fan of the more gentle, less freaked out sounds of 60s, the groovy first full release from Green Seagull is well worth checking out.
Due for release 30/03/2018 by Mega Dodo Records on limited edition run of 300 copies on green vinyl and also on CD available from groovy record shops, groovy on line retailers or pre-order it from the very groovy Mega Dodo shop. Also check it out/stream it/buy it from Mega Dodo’s groovy Bandcamp page here………………..
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