There’s been an absolute resurgence of psychedelic music over the past few years. It’s not as though it ever left, but it’s jumping from the tongues of quite a few garage singers these days. Austin’s The Black Angels deserve much of the credit for the psychedelic renaissance we’re witnessing. Together almost a decade and led by vocalist Alex Maas and the multi-talented guitarist Christian Bland — who also creates the lion’s share of the group’s album and poster art — these are the guys that backed Lone Star psych legend Roky Erickson as he returned from an almost non-returnable point of mental illness to regain his status as a rightfully respected elder statesman of Texas artists in 2008. The Black Angels have also hosted the ever-growing Austin Psych Fest for the past six years. More than simply headliners of the annual show, the band basically hand-picks the acts on each year’s tremendous bill. If there’s a festival that boasts more mind-bending, cochlea-altering talent than this one, we’ve yet to hear about it. Oh, and each of the group’s stellar last three albums, including the brand-new Indigo Meadow, is the stuff black-lit dreams are made of.
