Jess and the Ancient Ones – Second Psychedelic Coming: The Aquarius Tapes

Album Review by Duncan Harman | 26 Nov 2015
Album title: Second Psychedelic Coming: The Aquarius Tapes
Artist: Jess and the Ancient Ones
Label: Svart Records
Release date: 4 Dec

Taking the 'does what it says on the tin' approach to album titles, the Finnish sextet’s second long player isn’t going to win many awards for striking new ground; the smoky, deep-register vox of Jess herself sits reminiscent of Jefferson Airplane or (perhaps a closer match) early ‘70s prog rockers Curved Air, but more than that, each musical theme pulses with psych-rock allusion of vaguely mystic proportions, the keyboards and bass lines owing something to The Old Grey Whistle Test.

Thankfully, what this particular second coming doesn’t want for is sincerity, the band eager to take its audience on a journey (and at 20+ minutes in length, closer Goodbye to the Virgin Grounds Forever is certainly that). Stand-out In Levitating Secret Dreams isn’t afraid to display its muscles, while tracks such as The Equinox Death Trip and the sample-driven Samhain grab passing riffs and give them a squeeze. In fact, strip away the magick and the hokum, and this becomes quite a fun record indeed. 

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