Review :: Psychic Dancehall :: Dreamers

Psychic Dancehall :: A Love That Kills

The notion of a Psychic Dancehall hasn't been this perversely seductive since David Bowie's lip gloss defined my nightmares in 1986. Having released a 7" on ArtFag earlier this year, San Diego's version of Psychic Dancehall has had me wondering about a full-length ever since. Last month finally saw it's release, again on ArtFag, and it's streaming in full over here. Go, listen, eat a bag of Fritos, and read a few more words about it from me...

Dorian Wartime and Sylvia Innocent live in a rented apartment above a gay playhouse and write hypothetical scores for the performances that go on below them, one of which involves a transvestite beating her lover to death with a dildo. Where are your ArtFag credentials? They record in their own playhouse attic space, equipped with what seems to be a drum machine, a few cheap synths, and a crate full of Scott Walker, Suicide, and Phil Spector records. With Dreamers, the duo have created a melodically rich and stylistically diverse debut, one that stands out just for having hip-shake appeal and the potential to teach you how to croon. Not to mention a spectacularly-positioned cover of The Crystals "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)". It's dangerous, propulsive, druggy, and dare I say, just a little bit romantic throughout, which is to say this album could easily be renamed Natural Born Killers. Be a survivor and buy it.