It can all get very strange when an artist leaves you with little to no context to back their work, instead merely leaving pleasant sounds that make you ponder who exactly is the man behind the scenes. It’s particularly odd when you only look a few years back to when record players inhabited most households and mystery was all part of the fun.
In an age with no internet or easy access to information, kids would make their way down to the record store with a few dollars in their pocket, pick up a record with the coolest looking cover and gawk at it for hours thinking to themselves “Who is this man, this legend they call Ziggy Stardust”.
However this mystery is no longer prevalent in the 21st century, due to the rise of technology that brought in a surge of new information plus media. It’d be very rare to stumble across an artist these days who isn’t involved in social media in one way or another, however oddly enough I’ve found just that. Kelvin Hurts is a… well honestly I’m not sure what or who he is.
The psych rock mystery of Kelvin Hurts is odd, but one that plays second fiddle to the quality of their music; a killer combo of lo-fi, garage and psych.
As far as I’m concerned Kelvin may not even exist. Is it a solo act? A group? Who even knows? The only thing I think I can trust is to say he is from Christchurch, New Zealand as it says that on their bandcamp, however I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t skeptical. Nevertheless whoever Kelvin Hurts is, his work is simply brilliant. This mystery man/group has already dropped two EP’s plus a single of weird psychedelic lo-fi garage rock jams via his bandcamp page.
Needless to say that’s a fair few releases under his belt, all of which have seen little to no push for exposure, which is honestly a shame considering how many people I believe will absolutely enjoy these songs. Kelvin Hurts released his most recent EP Dry Lips in late November 2014, bearing five tracks of trippy psych jams, which have been menacingly slaughtered by what distinctly sounds like a Roland Space Echo. The majority of Dry Lips is crammed with epic instrumental jams, which makes the overall experience feel vast and expansive even though these tracks are relatively short.
Furthermore Kelvin Hurts recently released his latest single Females, an oddly tripped out garage rock concoction. Reminiscent of Ty Segall and Thee Oh Sees, Kelvin Hurts still manage to stand on their own on this one. What can I say; I find it very refreshing, if you are a fan girl of any 60’s psych rock revivalism Kelvin Hurts certainly succeeds to put a much needed twist on the movement, not to mention this guy is pumping awesome tunes close to home.
Kelvin Hurts may be a mystery man, however maybe it’s finally time that mystery was enjoyed once again; many thanks to the man, the myth Kelvin Hurts.
