Are you a big fan of Nova Scotia's Hot Mondy? Yeah, I thought so. After a listen to this debut from Travis Flint and Matthew Brannon (veterans of the Halifax collective), maybe you might give it a thought.

Strange Plants Strange Plants (self-released)

Or maybe you'll just stick to these songs, with their sticky Killers meets Marvin Gaye and playing Traffic, Pink Floyd and Cream sounds. Yes, indeed. Strange Plants never heard a sound they didn't want to try and wrap into a rootsy 70s psychedelic vibe. And a pretty please to the Gaye estate: these guys didn't even steal a vibe. Just a nod and a wink.

Songs like "Tell Me All Your Secrets, Pt. 2" have all the slink and craft of nid-70s Stones, while other pieces evoke a Tangerine Dream meets the Boach Boys vibe (not unlike 2000-ish Flaming Lips) or even Fleetwood Mac having a fourway with Supertramp. Brannon and Flint appropriate so much from so many that pastiche isn't even the right word. Also, these songs don't really hang together as an album so much as a DJ playlist from 1976.

Oh, and every song also sounds au courant. This isn't a time travel project; it's a modern re-engineering. Strange Plants attempt many unexpected feats, and about three-quarters strike dead center. Sure, we've heard it all before, but not whipped up like this. Strange Plants is full bliss.

Jon Worley