Let’s face it, chill Sunday drives aren’t complete without chill Sunday tracks. You know, those tunes that have you drifting off to la-la land as autopilot kicks in. Well, newbie psychedelic Sydney five-piece, Woodland have you covered right there.
Described as making ‘chill Sunday drive epics’, their first single serves up 100% pure psychedelic bliss and makes for, well, pretty chill Sunday driving. In 2013, mates Andrew, Nick, Peter, Tom and Jackson came together to explore the backwoods of psychedelic indie rock. Weaving their first kaleidoscopic dream, said newly released single Seikatsu, holds true to their exploratory roots.
Woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. See also, Woodland – raddest Sydney psych band of 2014.
To begin with, you get the feeling this song was born from a lengthy Absinthe-fuelled* jam sesh within the realm of their secluded dimly lit log cabin. Tripping into the unknown improvised music wilderness with no baggage but their imaginations, an organically grown mind-bender of a track that’s going to put these boys on the map resulted.
Opening with an extended fuzzy guitar intro, the cool vibes kick in long before Andrew’s earthy-toned vocals mesh with his whimsical lyrics. The track then makes layers with an unpredictable arrangement of drawn out guitar jams, dreamy effects pedals, echoic crashing drums and deep bassy reverb. There’s a whole lotta buzzing distorted goodness going on for one’s mind to soak up. But, I’m not complaining.
Strange and dreamy continues as you’re tumbling through space and time for close to six minutes before the spacey, and killer might I add, guitar solo outro lands you back on solid ground. Could this be the perfect cruising tune? Wandering far and wide into the all-mysterious psychedelic terrain, their first track is starting to clock up some radio airtime. With all systems now go, I’m sure I won’t be the only one keeping my ear to the ground for more Woodland chill Sunday drive epics.
Catch Woodland play with Burn Antares on the 12th of July at Brighton Up Bar.
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*FUN FACT: There is no psychedelic aspect to consuming Absinthe or it’s main ingredient wormwood. The rumor originated with stories of Parisian artists tripping balls and having psychedelic visuals after consuming Absinthe around the same time that the French government relaxed taxation on brewing and selling alcohol, which encouraged farmers to microbrew and sell liquors.
A large amount of inferior quality liquors flooded the market around 1880, and as we all know, improperly produced homemade liquors (moonshine, as it is known in the United States) are known to cause blindness, which is actually what the Parisian Absinthe consumers were actually suffering from when they ‘tripped balls’ on Absinthe. Any stories of psychedelic absinthe since that time can be attributed to a placebo effect.
I’m great at parties.
