Psychic Ills: Hazed Dream 2011 + One Track Mind 2013 + Inner Journey Out 2016

 

Over the course of more than 15 years, New York's Psychic Ills matured from a writhing mass of raw, hypnotic noise rock into a more nuanced form of psychedelic songwriting. The group was highly

esteemed in underground circles, working with indie labels like Sacred Bones and Social Registry and collaborating on their songs with members of Royal Trux and Mazzy Star before they were tragically called to a close with the death of founding member Tres Warren in 2020. Initially spawned from electronic-centered home recording experiments, they progressed into all-night full-band exploration in a neighborhood where noise wasn’t a problem. 
                                    

Psychic Ills formed in New York City in 2003, made up of Warren on vocals and guitarist/keyboard player Tom Gluibizzi. Following Mental Violence I, the duo was joined by bassist Elizabeth Hart and drummer Brian Tamborello to record their first proper full-length, 2006's Dins. The album's

cover art is German Fluxus artist Wolf Vostell's painting Three Hairs and Shadow. The Village Voice named Psychic Ills "Best Psych Rock Band" in their 2006 Best of NYC issue.
In early 2008, Psychic Ills performed in Marfa, Texas for the opening of the Hello Meth Lab in the Sun art installation and at the Contemporary Art Museum in Bordeaux France for the IAO festival. In 2009 they released the album Mirror Eye and toured the US with Butthole Surfers. 
                            

Their sound can be seen as a combination of the drones of Shoegazer bands, the psychedelic aspect of 80's and 90's Neo Psychedelic bands, the energetic playing of Punk bands and ambient textures reminiscent to Ambient and Electronic artists as well as many other genres with the same flavor. If you're a fan of bands like My Bloody Valentine, Spacemen 3, Sonic Youth and Bardo Pond and drug-

influenced genres then Psychic Ills won't be out of place in your collection.
Members of Psychic Ills have been involved in various other projects. Elizabeth Hart plays bass with Effi Briest and performs with the improvisational dance and music ensemble Skint. Tres Warren collaborates with visual artist Taketo Shimada as Messages and with Drew McDowall as Compound Eye. Former drummer Brian Tamborello participated in the Boredoms Boadrum projects and played drums on Mike Wexler's record Sun Wheel.
                           

For 2011's Hazed Dream, the band moved to Sacred Bones Records and opted for a more streamlined, accessible approach. In Spring 2013 the band released their fourth album One Track Mind and toured

Europe afterwards. 2013's One Track Mind continued on into even more accessible territory, with production and guest vocals from Royal Trux's Neil Hagerty. Brent Cordero, who had played keyboards with Psychic Ills on tour, became part of their studio crew for the sessions that produced the group's fifth album, 2016's Inner Journey Out. The album also featured a guest appearance from Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star, who contributed vocals to the song "I Don't Mind." Warren died on March 21, 2020 at age 41.
                                            

01.  PSYCHIC ILLS - HAZED DREAM 2011

                           

Psychic Ills' Sacred Bones label debut Hazed Dream doesn’t lie about its intentions: the whole album rolls

along like a fogged-out vision, albeit a very different one from anything the band has crafted before. Instead of the sonic maelstroms of Dins, Hazed Dream is a low-hanging fog, misty and down to earth at the same time. Hazed Dream is the band’s subtlest album as well as its most accessible, and its low-key pleasures reveal themselves over time. 
                   

Psychic Ills – Hazed Dream
Label: Sacred Bones Records – SBR-063CD
Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: Oct 18, 2011
Genre: Rock
Style: Psychedelic Rock

TRACKS

                                     

                                      
01. Midnight Moon    3:49
02. Mind Daze    3:39
03. Incense Head    4:14
04. Mexican Wedding    3:21
05. That's Alright    3:55
06. Ring Finger    4:08
07. Travelin' Man    3:43
08. Sungaze    4:08
09. Dream Repetition    2:01
10. I’ll Follow You Through The Floor    4:47
11. Same Old Song    3:10

LINE - UP

                       

Bass – Elizabeth Hart
Drums, Bongos, Guiro, Maracas – Brian Tamborello
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Slide Guitar, Guitar [Wah], Guitar [E-bow], Keyboards, Vocals, Drum Machine, Sruti Box, Jew's Harp, Synthesizer, Harmonica – Tres Warren
Written-By, Mixed By – Psychic Ills

Flac Size: 236 MB

02.  PSYCHIC ILLS - ONE TRACK MIND 2013

                      

Going from their 2003 inception to fourth album One Track Mind ten years later has been a winding road

for New York's Psychic Ills. The menacing and hypnotic basslines, ghost-town blues, and druggy drifter motifs of the album still have shades of the group's noisy beginnings, but most of the formless doom has been replaced with more traditional expressions of dread. "One Track Mind" kicks things off sounding like a listless sunburned daydream from some imaginary hybrid of the Gun Club and Spacemen 3. 
                              

Psychic Ills – One Track Mind
Label: Sacred Bones Records – SBR-089CD
Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: 2013
Genre: Rock
Style: Psychedelic Rock

TRACKS

                        

01. One More Time   3:41
Backing Vocals [Back Up Vocals] – Charles Burst
02. See You There    5:03
03. Might Take A While   3:45
Backing Vocals [Back Up Vocals] – Neil Michael Hagerty    
04. Depot    3:22
05. Tried To Find It    5:18
06. FBI   3:33
Bongos – Charles Burst
07. I Get By   4:19
Guitar – Neil Michael Hagerty
08. City Sun    4:01
09. Western Metaphor    4:56
10. Drop Out    5:24

BONUS TRACK

    
11. Violet Horizon   3:51
Backing Vocals [Back Up Vocals] – Charles Burst

LINE - UP

                            

Bass – Elizabeth Hart
Drums – Chris Millstein
Guitar, Vocals, Organ, Piano, Harmonica – Tres Warren
Illustration [Cover Drawning "True Happiness"], Painting [Inner Sleese "Spacescape"] – Powell St. John
Recorded By [Additional] – Tres Warren
Songwriter [All Songs By] – Psychic Ills

Flac Size: 346 MB
    
03.  PSYCHIC ILLS - INNER JOURNEY OUT 2016

                    

Psychic Ills created one of the truly great "drifting on a cloud of lysergic thought" albums with their

fifth long-player, 2016's Inner Journey Out. Obviously built around the notion that less is more, Inner Journey Out is made up of slow, contemplative numbers that embellish circular guitar and keyboard patterns as the musicians reach out to their hypnotic potential. Inner Journey Out isn't made for all listeners or all purposes, but anyone interested in a journey down a peaceful river of sculpted sound is advised to investigate its properties. 
                             

Psychic Ills – Inner Journey Out
Label: Sacred Bones Records – SBR155CD, Sacred Bones Records – SBR-155
Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: Jun 3, 2016
Genre: Rock
Style: Alternative Rock, Acoustic, Psychedelic Rock, 

TRACKS

                             

01. Back To You    3:59
Congas, Shaker, Wood Block – Derek James
02. Another Change    5:22
Backing Vocals – Lady Peachena, Nadine Simmons
03. I Don't Mind     4:41
Vocals – Hope Sandoval (Mazzy Star)
04. Mixed Up Mind    3:41
05. All Alone    3:34
Backing Vocals – Lady Peachena, Nadine Simmons
06. New Mantra    2:04
Vocals – Lady Peachena, Nadine Simmons
07. Coca-Cola Blues    7:12
08. Baby    4:15
Backing Vocals – Lady Peachena, Nadine Simmons
Tambourine – Thom Monahan
Timpani – Charles Burst
09. Music In My Head    3:28
Acoustic Guitar – Mike Wexler
Bongos – Charles Burst
10. No Worry    3:35
Drums – Charles Burst
11. Hazel Green    5:50
Drums – Charles Burst
12. Confusion (I'm Alright)    3:16
Congas – Derek James
13. Ra Wah Wah    9:12
Chimes – Derek James
14. Fade Me Out    3:55
Other [Glass Bottle] – Derek James

LINE - UP

                       

Acoustic Guitar, Vocals – Tres Warren
Bass – Elizabeth Hart
Congas, Shaker, Wood Block – Derek James
Drums – Chris Millstein, Harry Druzd
Organ – Brent Cordero
Backing Vocals – Lady Peachena, Nadine Simmons
Pedal Steel Guitar – Tim Ramsey, Matty McDermott
Vocals – Hope Sandoval
Saxophone – Casey Butler
Written-By – Psychic Ills

Flac Size: 351 MB