Doug Tuttle is a singer/songwriter from the New England area whose influences have often been cited to be psychedelic pop and psychedelic rock from the mid 1960s to the early 1970s. Tuttle was a founding member of the New Englad psychedelic indie rock band known as Mmoss, alongside Rachel Neveu, but the band the couple split up in 2013. After Mmoss split, Tuttle began his solo career, and to date, he has released four albums under his own name. This album, Doug Tuttle (2014), is Tuttle’s first solo album, and is listed under the tags of rock, bedroom-rock, folk-rock, home-recording, indie-rock, jangle-pop, and Somerville, on the album’s Bandcamp listing. I’m pretty stoked to give this album a listen, so with that said, I’m going to jump on into the music.
“With Us Soon” gets started right away with some really high-pitched experimental noises, and then segues into a really interesting lo-fi, psychedelic pop-oriented folk rock sound. I really dig the combination of the drums and bass in this track, and the keyboards/guitar remind me a ton of the experimental tones from the 1960s band, The United States of America. I really dig the sort of galloping rhythm guitar work while the main melodic work from the buzzy, experimental guitar/keyboards travels about the soundscape. I really dig the experimental psychedelic sound of the outro. Great track, and I’m excited to hear more.
Oh wow, “Forget the Days” has a really interesting, tight, and somewhat dark psychedelic pop/rock sounds that seem to harken back to artists like The Doors. I really dig the juxtaposition between the sort of whimsical, cheerier sound of the chorus, and the darker, strange buildup of the verse. Oh wow, the soundscape sounds like it’s continually rising alongside some sort of Shepard tone as it comes to some experimental, somewhat jangling, psychedelic pop folk crescendo. Oh wow, the drums, and any instrument with much bass exits the soundscape for the outro as all that’s left are some reverberated vocals and some really interesting orchestral strings that have a sort of mixture of lo-fi, reversed, and reverberated sound effects. Great track.
“Turn This Love” gets started with some really groovy, mellow, psychedelic sounds as some organs seem to gently swirl in the background of the soundscape, while the percussion and an acoustic guitar seem to combine for some really nice jangling sounds. I’m really digging the sound of the bass line in this track, which seems to easily groove in the background in a manner that almost reminds me of some sort of combination of Frankie and the Witch Fingers and Rose City Band. Holy smokes, an electric guitar comes in with some super sweet psychedelic licks that seem to take the song into far out territory while the rhythm section between the drums, acoustic guitar, and bass all seem to steadily move the soundscape along in a really reliable way. I’m really digging the feeling of movement in this track. Holy smokes, the drums get some really groovy fills in that keep the beat feeling dynamic while the electric guitar goes in on a super sweet solo. Holy smokes, this guitar solo seems to keep on giving more and more. I really dig the strumming of the acoustic guitar and the crashing of cymbals, which create a sort of psychedelic folk rock sound that reminds me of artists from that genre in the early 1970s such as Simon Finn. Oh wow, I really dig the experimental outro of the track. Awesome song.
Holy smokes, “Where You Plant Your Love Is Where It Grows” gets started right where the previous track left off in a sort of lo-fi kaleidoscopic manner reminiscent of songs like “Kaleidoscope” by The Litter, or even “Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds” from The Beatles. Holy smokes, the track seems to gradually mellow away from the kaleidoscopic sound as the vocals exit for a moment, and almost turn into a modern, lo-fi, surf rock-inflected psychedelic garage rock track. Wow, great track.
“Lasting Away” gets started again with some experimental psychedelic rock sounds, and then seems to settle into a really sweet, somewhat breezy, mellow, lo-fi, psychedelic garage rock song that sounds like it’s being played under a Los Angeles sunset as you drive with the top down towards the beach on a road that seems to continue winding. Holy smokes, I’m really digging this track. I’m very much reminded of Frankie and the Witch Fingers again in this track. The effects almost make me think of some surf rock iteration of a group like Gong or even Fifty Foot Hose, and I’m really digging the resulting sound. Great track.
“Leave Your Body” gets started with a classic psychedelic rock sound reminiscent of the late 1960s with some groovy, swirling organs set to an increasingly dynamic beat and accompanying bass line that seem to gradually march the tune forward. I’m really digging the mellowness in the guitar work and vocals in this track. The lo-fi sort of sound in the drums add even more late 1960s flavor to the soundscape that you might hear in albums/bands that didn’t have a massive record contract at the time and have since been unearthed as classics of the genre. There’s also a really sweet, sort of harmonic droning on one side of the soundscape behind the guitar that I really dig. Great track.
“We Could Live” starts in with a super smooth segue in from the experimental ending of the previous track and gets grooving into a sort of vaporwave/shoegazing sound that really reminds me a lot of psychedelic music from the late 1980s and that I’m really digging. Super sweet track.
“I Won’t Do” gets started right away with a really interesting mixture of some shakers that sound like they’re filled with about 7 or 8 large, dried beans, some sort of melting guitar work, and some organs that swirl in the background. I really dig the mellowness of the bass line, which seems to string together the drums really nicely. Oh wow, the guitars in the track seem to gradually melt more and more into one another and the soundscape as a whole. Oh wow, the bass line seems to take on more of a bouncing quality as the track continues along. Super sweet tune.
“Sewn Away” gets started with a medley of jangling psychedelic sounds as organs seem to fill up the backdrop of the soundscape and some guitars seem to accentuate the organs and melt into the soundscape. The drums create a nice feeling of movement in the soundscape as well as the snares seem to drive the tune further into psychedelic territory. I’m reminded a fair deal of the sort of jangling college rock and shoegazing sounds reminiscent of the later 1980s. Super sweet track.
Oh wow, “I Will Leave” seems to resolve some tension built up in the previous track into a sort of jangling psychedelic pop rock sound that I’m really digging. I’m kind of reminded a bit of The Clean, a sort of jangling college rock-oriented band from New Zealand in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Oh wow, I really dig the jangling accentuations in the percussion as the track comes to a close. Super sweet tune.
Oh wow, “Better Days (The Wools Grown Lighter)” seems to bring things back an almost dark, strange, lo-fi psychedelic rock that sort of reminds me of Los Angeles rock groups such as Frankie and the Witch Fingers. I really dig the sort of gallop in the garage rock-sounding guitar chords. Oh wow, everything but the vocals and bass line falls away for a second, making it all the more apparent how jangly the soundscape actually is. Oh wow, there’s a rising tone in this one again that reminds me of a Shepard tone and the experimental nature of psychedelic groups from the latter 1960s like Fifty Foot Hose and Gong. Wow, great track, and a great way to finish up the album.
Holy smokes, I’m really glad I checked out this album today. Throughout the listening experience I was reminded of a number of bands that spanned from the 1960s to present day bands. Whether it was the experimental nature of groups from the 1960s like Fifty Foot Hose or Gong, or the sort of jangling college rock style of groups from the late 1980s and early 1990s like The Clean or even The House of Love, which even ventured into a sort of shoegazing territory at times reminiscent of groups like Swervedriver, or the sort of lo-fi, surf rock-inflected sort of Los Angeles psychedelic garage rock style of modern groups like Frankie and the Witch Fingers, I found myself thinking of groups that I’ve enjoyed a lot, and further on the edge of my seat as the music continually changed up and seemingly hooked me further into the listening experience. If you’re a fan of jangling psychedelic pop/rock, and especially if you enjoy psychedelic albums that have some experimental feel, then you might want to consider checking out this album. If you do decide to give this album a listen, then I sincerely do hope that you enjoy the listening experience at least as much as I did.
-A