The Orange Drop – Stoned in Love (Mega Dodo Records, 2016)

Hailing from Philadelphia, the five piece neo psych experiment, Marc-Andre Basil on Guitar, Peter Stanko also on Guitar, Dave Johnson holding down the Keys, Matt Calhoun on Bass, and Anthony Bove on Drums, morph together to create a fourth dimensional experience.

The swirling oil wheel effect on the album cover aims to give you a dose of the album’s ethereal essence within nine tracks creating a lost and hazy chamber of emotion through mellow jangly guitars, along with a roomy bass and drums. The vocals are sincere and yearning, it has a warm early 1990s psych feel to it, rather than that of the late 1960s. .

Delayed guitar effects swirl into a tremolo reminiscent of a Pink Floydian dreamscape, one where the ghostly vocals tend to drift from shots that are mellow to dynamic bursts of energy. Laced with generous helpings of transcendental guitar structures and solos that sound not dissimilar to a few mid-late 1990s British rock bands such as Kula Shaker, and Reef, while droning strings and a pulsing bass at times lead into the fuzzy Brian Jonestown Massacre “Make It Her, Forever”, complete with a chanting, drums and vocal charges. The album holds together well with swelling layered organs, and warm overdriven guitar excursions that adds further dynamic breaks. They’ve even incorporated Floating flutes which soar in the distance while the vocals weave in and out of these expansive layered riffs.

Oddly, a jangly jaunt in French keeps the happy vibes in check on “J’Admets”, which translates as ‘I admit’. Bubbly bass, crisp guitars, and a content rhythm section make the song more of a shiny happy refreshing experience. “Hey Man” ushers in some mellow and tuneful acoustic guitar moments with a somewhat sunset tainted vision.

Stoned In Love is a lysergic adventure to say the least, and with the orange vinyl, you’re gonna feel more enchanted than ever.