Obscured by Echoes

Black Matter Manifesto (Limehouse Records)

Psychedelia isn’t limited to blitzed jamming and peace-and-love inanities, a notion well understood on Obscured by Echoes’ debut cassette/digital LP, Black Matter Manifesto. Formerly the Hi-Tones, the local quartet traffics in post-punk theatrics and contemporary indie clatter as often as it takes the Elevator to the 13th Floor or a flamboyant trip through a Paisley Underground. The menacing seduction of “Kaleidoscopic Minds” and Svengali tribute “Aleister LaVey” bump hips with the cosmic brooding of “Black Matter” and acid dreams of “Electric Funeral.” Meanwhile, the starlit jangle of “Hatchet Man” boogies alongside the Stoned bash-and-crash “Pop Politico,” and the whole album shakes down until it shimmers. Homemade production occasionally clashes with the group’s sonic ambition, but the extra layer of fuzz more often enhances this trip.

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This article appears in February 1 • 2013.

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Michael Toland started writing about music in 1988 on the Gulf Coast, moved to Austin in early 1991, and has inflicted bylines upon the corporeal and digital pages of Pop Culture Press, The Big Takeover, Blurt, Amplifier, Austin.citysearch, the Austin American Statesman, Goldmine, Sleazegrinder, Rock & Roll Globe, High Bias, FHT Music Notes, and, since 2011, The Austin Chronicle.