Something strange is happening on social media platforms – specifically on TikTok
Grainy edits set to backing tracks along the lines of bands like Crumb, Fuzz, or King Gizzard are suddenly flooding For You pages.
Videos with kaleidoscopic visuals, mushroom-core aesthetics and slowed down psych riffs are getting thousands, if not millions, of views.
It isn’t psych rock in the traditional sense, but it’s definitely psych-adjecent. Some are labelling it ‘locketcore’ or ‘mystic edits’ – a genre that lives more in visuals and vibe than instrumentation.
Still, it’s boosting underground psych tracks into a second life online, proving that this generation really does know what’s good for ‘em.
Artists like Spirit of the Beehive and Pond are re-entering viral charts. Crumb’s ‘Locket’ has resurfaced as an accidental Gen Z anthem, its woozy underwater vocals soundtracking everything from slow fashion edits to surreal POV reels.
Even Aussie psych staples like Gizz are getting pulled into the current and taken along for the ride.
So what’s driving it? Maybe it’s algorithm fatigue. Or nostalgia dressed in cyberdelic clothing.
Perhaps we’re just collectively bored of clean pop and looking for something more stimulating to the ears.
It’s in psychedelic rock’s history to run concepts of exploration, consciousness and social commentary that clearly continue to resonate with audiences.
Psychedelic music has always had a strong connection to social movements, and its themes of peace, love, and expanded consciousness continue to be relevant.
The internet and streaming services have fostered a strong sense of community among fans, artists, and scroll-holers alike, facilitating the spread of the music and its ideas.
Whatever the cause, one thing’s clear: Psychedelia is mutating online – and in a weird and wonderful way, that mirrors the music itself. Long live psychedelic sounds.