It’s difficult to properly define the term ‘psychedelic.’ Drug use and the social environment that it constructs are fine opening topics themselves, but things become much more complicated when ‘psychedelic’ refers to a genre of music rather than a cultural tradition. The tricky thing about attempting to describe psychedelic music is that, objectively speaking, the genre lacks base standards for inclusion altogether. One can’t explain the music by listing a set of genre-specific instruments, structures, lyrical themes, or production methodologies; rather, the potency of psychedelic music is reliant upon its listener’s familiarity with the form, so any accurate depiction of psychedelia must tether itself to the genre’s inherent and unending fluidity.
That said, this sort of dynamic becomes more problematic than interesting when the time comes to revisit old psychedelic records. Psych-rock, for example, is structurally rooted in rock ‘n’ roll, and it’s horrifyingly familiar to those of us who grew up listening to classic rock radio. You’ve heard it all your life — the stuff’s more outdated than psychedelic nowadays. As a result, now might not have been the most advantageous time for Past & Present Records to release a compilation such as Psych Bites: Australian Acid Freakrock.
Although Psych Bites would certainly impress someone who hadn’t heard anything apart from tracks featured on the Blues Brothers OST, this compilation was marketed towards a group of individuals who are, for the most part, quite acquainted with the genre’s American and European counterparts. Many present-day listeners have even immersed themselves in psychedelic music that has grown from and expanded upon the very material listed on the back cover of this compilation. Consequently, this Australian Acid Freakrock isn’t so freaky — just retrospective and uninspiring. Perhaps these sounds were affecting in their own time and context, but what’s clear now is that our parents’ old acid jams just aren’t tripping us anymore.
