Brian Jonestown Massacre – Their Satanic Majesties’ Second Request 2LP

Description

2021 repress; black vinyl. Gatefold 180 gram double vinyl version. Truth in advertising: theBrian Jonestown Massacre‘s sophomore album does, as promised, spring forth from theRolling Stones‘ long-underrated 1967 masterpieceTheir Satanic Majesties Request, copping not onlyMickandKeith‘s leering bad-boy attitude but also their rock-and-roll-circus spirit. Opening with the brilliant “All Around You (Intro),” a tongue-in-cheek guide to the mind-altering journey ahead, the record is a kaleidoscopic, drug-fueled freakout — like the Stones’ namesake album,Second Requestis painted by Eastern drones and psychedelic tangents, each track bubbling with dozens of sound effects including sitars, mellotrons, farfisas, didgeridoos, tablas, congas, and glockenspiels. Travelling through the past, darkly, the Massacre arrives on the other side unscathed; their music is too rich to be merely retro, and too knowing to be merely slavish — the Stones themselves haven’t made a record this strong or entertaining in years.