THEE TELEPATHS

Venus Flytrap | Skybeard

The Black Prince

Sculpting sound and building huge sonic structures are local band SKYBEARD. Opening their set with the sublime ‘Mildred Beige’ they immediately evidence a hypnotic power that draws the listener deep into their world. Augmenting their instrumental sound with some choice spoken word samples increases the atmospherics as the band lead the audience through a musical maze but proceed with caution because just when you think you know where the band are going they’ll surprise you with a left turn. Skybeard have an expansive sound that incorporates post-rock, stoner and prog but their beauty lies in knowing no boundaries.

Darkwave duo the VENUS FLY TRAP open their set with their 1986 debut single ‘Morphine’ which has lost none of its addictive quality. In a set that constantly shifts gears they hit us with the powerful ‘Sabotage’ and then the cinematic ‘James Dean’. Latest single ‘Vitesse’ follows with vocalist Alex Novak dancing in android form and guitarist Andy Denton playing riffs with robotic precision. Wasting little time ‘Pressure Drop’ follows along with two choice covers: Suicide’s ‘Rocket USA’ and The Cramps’ ‘Human Fly’ and on both of which Venus Fly Trap marked their indelible stamp. Set closer ‘Metropolis’ belies the bands love of science fiction and is an electronic foil to Iggy’s ‘The Passenger’ as they take us on a pillion ride through a neon soaked cityscape.

Kettering’s scientists of sound THEE TELEPATHS have been rather busy carving out their own unique niche in the world of psychedelic rock. And it’s a brand of psyche in the best tradition insofar that it has a subversive nature. Capturing that moment in time when Altmont and Charles Manson turned the hippy dream into a bad acid nightmare Thee Telepaths take this essence and add a modern twist. Years of gigging has given the band an undeniable telepathy (pun intended) and they effortlessly follow each other while playing with an almost free form jazz sensibility which suggests the sound could head in any direction. However Thee Telepaths work because of the four different characters operating in unison: bassist Tim attacks his instrument like Dee Dee Ramone as vocalist Dean seems to sing in a shamanistic trance. Drummer Vince is a blur of sticks while Tom paints small pools of concentric circles with his guitar and pulls a pleasing retro sound from the keyboard. Bringing these elements together into a cohesive whole gives the tunes a chameleon nature as they constantly shape shift and evolve. The bands set dips into their string of fine EPs which led to their acclaimed full length ‘The Velvet Night’. Due to the hypnotic, otherworldly quality of their sound as Thee Telepaths set ends we’re left with a feeling of waking from a dream, a return to reality. Heavy Nuggets indeed.