Robert Louis Stevenson used The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde to explore nascent ideas of psychiatry; on Jekyll Island, Surf City explore shoegaze and psychedelic pop with typical artistic dexterity.
At first glance, Jekyll Island is as superficially welcoming and law-abiding as Stevenson’s protagonist. It starts with the glimmering Summer Heat, the best surf-stained psychedelic song the Sand Pebbles never got around to composing; next up, you’re driving down the coastal highway in your open-roofed convertible in Spec City, beating a hasty escape from the frustrations of urban existence.
But Jekyll Island (And the Psychosphere) gives a hint that there might be something else brewing in Surf City’s artistic mind – it’s soft to the ear, yet there’s a hidden depth in which might be found something far more confronting. Hollow Veins is a laconic late ‘80s indie powerpop trip in the vein of The Hummingbirds and a host of almost-legends, One Too Many Things is the type of folk-inspired rock track that The Byrds used to explore the contradictions of the emotional psyche and beneath the surface of What They Need can be glimpsed the excited discourse of Mark E Smith in one of his more restrained expositions.
Everything you need to know about Leave Your Worries is in the title; if it’s not, it’s there in the song’s pop-and-gaze melodies; Indian Summer is so relaxed it’s almost somnolent. Thumbs Up is psychedelic pop in a pinball arcade with a couple of diet pills and some helium balloons, The End is the church in a more secular pop environment and Jesus Elvis Coca Cola is a third year cultural studies essay just waiting to happen.
But if Jekyll Island is the psychedelic pop version of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr Henry Jekyll, then what dangerous musical beast will be found on Hyde Hill? We can only imagine.
BY PATRICK EMERY
