PerthZine

Tag: psychedelic

  • Album Review – Deep Beep: Soft Honk (2026)

    Album Review – Deep Beep: Soft Honk (2026)

    The Beeps are Deep

    Rating: 4 out of 5.

    Soft Honk is the latest from Perth/Boorloo space-psych rockers Deep Beep. Their second offering is developed, epic, and full of god-like riffage. The beeps go deep.

    The 5-track album is a step up in performance and production from the moment the chugging guitars enter in Diesel & Meth. The soundscape builds as the mix introduces each instrument, none overworking but all constructing something. It has Floyd feels, but vocalist Matt Rudas has enough Perth twang to make it local, and the vibrato guitar hits are inspired in both position and tone. Listen for the bap bap vocal breakdown in the middle. This is the Deep, so the song is soaring by the end. It sounds enormous.

    If you want good balance – add something catchier after the epic intro. You’ll Never Be My Baby is a good choice. It’s a post-rock pop song (sorry), not far from what Interpol were doing in the noughties, but proggier. The guitar lead line following the introductory “babys” is gorgeous. Cam Sims and Rudas’ guitar work – they got melody too, these lads.

    Atlantiss is another level again, out of the depths of the ocean where prog was born. The super heavy riff that repeats throughout the song is one of the best moments on the record, getting a little bit middle period muse-y. Super catchy and the airwaves agree, with the tune getting plenty of radio play. It’s a real journey.

    The epic-ness is well and truly underway by the middle, but the biggest is yet to come. For the true epic we must turn to Tell it to the Mountain. It’s about mountains (or one mountain) and runs the longest at nine and a half minutes. Don’t get the wrong idea, it’s not all prog parading, the song also has a hell of a singalong chorus – “take all your troubles, go and tell it to the mountain”. It’s another high point of the record and showcases the dynamics of the rhythm section, Josh Watkins’ drums ebbing and flowing until the ending explodes.

    Braden’s Lament brings the journey to a close in a descent into sample and noise jamming madness. The secret-song like track summarises the band up well actually. A bit mad and not unwilling to play around. Not all serious-musicianmanship progressive rock, this is a bit different. It seems a reasonable summary of Deep Beep, given how much fun the album is. The name says it all.

    Soft Honk was recorded at Rada Studios.

    Deep Beep play live this Saturday night at Four5Nine Bar.

    The band: Jerome Kennedy – Bass, Matt Rudas – vocals/guitar, Cam Sims – guitar, Andy Bartlett – Keys, Josh Watkins – drums.

    Album One: Mind the Brain (2023)

  • Album Review – The Psychotic Reactions: FeelinHealin (2026)

    Album Review – The Psychotic Reactions: FeelinHealin (2026)

    Feel it, heal it

    Rating: 4 out of 5.

    The latest offering from The Psychotic Reactions is full of psych goodness and a mix of longer jams and short hits across the fourteen-track album. Split into two halves – healin’ and feelin’ – the Reactions are gettin’ concept on us.

    Opening with a sample telling us to push ourselves to greater things, Intro sets the scene for the album, with a groove sitting right in the pocket, accompanied by dirty lead licks and vintage keys. It’s sparse and knows when to fill the little gaps.

    Ask follows the intro jam and offers the antithesis to the opener. Danceable, catchy guitar licks, and closer to the indie-pop sound Perth (Boorloo) is known for (let’s call it a little bit of late 80s Pixie-era indie-rock but also leaning on 90s indie-pop). It’s also an intimate portrait of the darkness that can lie deep in the mind, released at the end by a searing guitar solo.

    The immediate response is Answer. The band mellows momentarily as guitarist/singer Hannah Smillie ponders her inner self and tells her friends she’s going to open up and be honest about what’s going on inside, singing the hook “all you had to do was ask” as a signal to the future. There is a concept-like connection between the tracks, linking the songs in sound while shifting in mood. Clearing the Air keeps the tempo down with a mellow jangle, before building to one of the best guitar moments on the album in a slow-blues jam.

    How Can They Sleep? is acoustic psychedelic dreamscape with 60s/90s influence. The biggest moment comes when Smillie, backed by harmonies, sings “you don’t get it, we gotta change it”. It could be the album’s strongest track; it has everything that makes the band pop. Don’t Take My Side backs this with a real showcase of Smillie’s vocal range, moving from pop drawl to something more bar-room smokiness.

    It’s hard not to focus on the guitar work, as yet another tune delivers plenty of bluesy-psych lead work. A Minor Spoken Word (I’m a sucker for these spoken word jam tracks) sees the continued restraint from rhythm section Jacob McAneny (bass) and Rory Lowe McLoughlin (drums). The two are rock tight as Smillie riffs both verbally and with her axe, with some Echoes-esque noise work holding the tension.

    The album’s healin’ half starts with, you guessed it, Healing. Essentially the album title track with the chorus vocal hook “now baby I’m healin’, how’s that making you feelin’”. We’re almost in Portishead territory now, with synth loops and trip-hop beats from McLoughlin going for late night Rage feels.

    Growing Old is the single of the album with the gorgeous chorus “and I realise, I’m not mad about growing old” full of melody and harmonies. Did I mention Smillie’s guitar work – as sharp and soulful as ever here. The song is pure pop goodness with edges.

    We then enter classic 60s psychedelia with Take It Easy. The track is about as pop as the band get, and comparing to the 60s doesn’t do it justice, as there are touches of 80s and 90s indie-pop resonant throughout. If that wasn’t enough, country-pop barnstormer Chills & Fever comes along and says you ain’t seen danceable yet (this is pure early 60s rock n roll from 1961, originally by Johnny Love and His Orchestra). Punk, rock n roll (aren’t they the same thing deep down), country, catchy as hell.

    The Psychotic Reactions close out with Black Coffee, and the versatility of the trio shines again. It’s a nice approach having the jam-out songs early on and the happier, poppier tunes at the back, to go along with the conceptual split between feelin’ and healin’. Keep ending on positive vibes; if we all approached life like FeelinHealin, wouldn’t it be a trip.