Floating In Lemonade

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Nov 25, 2008 4:10PM

San Francisco's Lemonade remind us of late '90s Psychic TV, as they blend dance beats with visions of acid flashbacks while displaying a willingness to throw the entire enterprise over a cliff if only because they're curious about what that would sound like. This art-dance combos employs wildly eclectic sounds on their self-titled debut in boldly surprising ways without ever running into the danger of coming across as willfully obtuse. There's more than a healthy dose of experimentation, but even when things seem about to drift off into the ether -- for instance the hazy extended outro of "Blissout" that immediately follows a frenzied tribal drum break -- it's still naturally instinctual to the point that the tunes still make sense.

We admit that in order to enjoy some off the band's output it's necessary to let go and submerge yourself in the noise. "Sunchips" is not an easy listen as a repeating bell tone attempts to connect wobbly deep synth lines and the effect that your diving ever deeper into a subterranean nightmare land. At least that's how it feels if you try to connect the dots constructing the song in a rational manner. Once you close you eyes and allow yourself to drift among the disparate tones and rhythms it's easy to find the beauty amidst the chaos.

MP3: Lemonade "Blissout"
MP3: Lemonade "Sunchips (Ghosts On Tape Remix)"
MP3: Lemonade "Big Weekend (Delorean Remix)"
MP3: Lemonade "Realslime (Mashepest Remix)"

Lemonade open for the like minded dance-rockers El Gunicho tonight at The Empty Bottle, 1035 N Western, 9:30 p.m., $10, 21+