Satan's Pilgrims is a five-piece band from Portland. Formed in 1991, the band is still plugging away with its distinct retro sound. After hearing this band on Radio Free Bakersfield and the GaragePunk Surfast, I was sufficiently intrigued to contact the band about its most recent album Psychsploitation.
It doesn't take long to figure out what Satan's Pilgrims is all about. Psychsploitation opens with the song "Dilation." This is a song that is all about the psychedelic sound. If you heard the song without knowing who recorded it, you'd probably guess that it was recorded at least 40 years ago.
And that's just the beginning. The band adeptly manages to keep one foot firmly in the world of psychedelia and surf. "Wylde Times" is a song that leans more toward surf while "Kaleidoscope," "Colours of Your Mind" (and several others) are exclusively in the realm of psychedelia. You'll hear a lot of organ, a lot of reverb, and almost no lyrics. And then there is "Psych-A-Go-Go (Psych Out!)" If you're not wearing go-go boots, or some kind of dancing shoes when this comes on, you'll want to put them on and get moving. The album closes with "10,000 Mirrors," a fuzzadelic masterpiece. You don't so much listen to this song as let it surround you. The sound seems to come from everywhere. Sit back and let the goodness engulf you.
The cover of the album promises "mind-expanding sounds." I'm not going to disagree with that. This is not a band whose members repeatedly play the same three chords as loud as they can in an attempt to fool people into thinking that they are good. This is not a band that employs the standard verse-chorus-verse format. It is quite simply a band of five very talented musicians who play a brand of music that you won't hear very frequently. If you're looking for something different to add to your collection, start wtih Psychsploitation, available on the band's website and CDBaby.
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