Vibes – “Psychic” (Not Not Fun, 2009)

Analysis Paralysis is a real motherfucker.

I haven’t been posting a lot of stuff on here lately, outside of links to the podcast, because I’ve been wrestling with how these blog posts should be. The professional in me wants to optimize these posts, tune up the SEO, do all the backlink nonsense, and so forth to try and make the site more visible to the world at large. The much larger personal side of me just wants to shine a light on some cool stuff and have fun with it, suggested word count be damned.

The end result of this inner struggle is that nothing gets done. So, today marks my decision to say “fuck that noise” and just start doing stuff again. I might write a lot or it could just be one sentence and a video. Either way, I’m doing it.

So let’s kick things back off for the third time with one of my favorites: “Psychic” by underground supergroup Vibes. This is the title track off their 2009 7” released on the awesome Not Not Fun Records, and it’s always had a warm place in my heart.

Now, most people probably think I’m playing fast and loose with the term “supergroup” when referring to Vibes, but as a twenty something derelict, this was my Traveling Wilburys. Vibes’ lineup basically reads like a Not Not Fun all-star team, with Sun Araw, M. Geddes Gengras, Britt Brown from Robedoor, and Amanda Brown from Pocahaunted filling out their ranks.

I’ve always been drawn in by NNF’s ramshackle, lo-fi hypnagogic house style, but when that is paired with the clattering tension and desperate howls that Vibes brings to the table, it goes from great to an all-timer in my estimation. A true hidden gem of the NNF catalog.