Reverbing in from Frankfurt, this German outfit has little truck with Kraut rock. Rather, this is a ringing, lush embrace of 60s and 70s psychedelia. The songs are long (the "single" clocks in at 10 minutes, though it is the longest of the set), but the ideas are relatively simple. Just find the nearest connection between the guitar and bass and stay in the zone.

The Black Cat's Eye Decrypting Dreams of Weird Animals and Strange Objects (Tonzonen Records)

Guitarist (and keyboardist) Chrisitan Blaser and bassist (and keyboardist and occasional vocalist) Jens Cappel wrote these songs, and it is their interplay that drives these songs. There are also two more guitarists and a dummer to fill out the sound, but the Cappel/Blaser core is at the heart of everything. And it is a glory to hear.

These songs are long, but they don't lumber. There's no wasted motion or extraneous tangents. These are not journeys to the heart of space. They're concrete paths to a separate consciousness.

And holy hell does this sound great at 11. Headphones are even better. The sonic palette really pops at higher volumes. Don't worry about sterilizing your dog; you should have done that already. Just play this loud and scare the neighbors. And then do it again, because there's really no choice.

Jon Worley