There is always an elusive, transcendent quality to any good psychedelic music that can be placed somewhere on the scale between body and head. Weekender find themselves decisively on the heady side of the spectrum. Their use of atmospheric pads and effects, woven together with fluid guitars and effortless melodies, makes the world briefly seem like an okay place. The instruments blend and whirl together (with plenty of help from reverb and modulation), producing astoundingly soft and nebulous textures that can’t help but draw comparisons to Slowdive and other shoegazing pioneers, who bring heavenly atmospherics to the big stage. These 90s shoegazers were probably also a large influence on some of today’s artists like Tame Impala and Temples, who conveniently fit nicely into the same vein of glazed over, impossibly poppy, happy-high psych rock that Weekender puts out. You can catch Weekender live this evening at Johnny Brenda’s when they celebrate the arrival of their new album Floaty, Feeling Blue (PaperCup Music), alongside Vanillalord (part goth, part gunk, part bad trip, 100% weirdo-rock) and dream-pop labelmates Little Racer, with the Suburban Living DJs spinning tasty vinyl throughout the night. Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 8pm, $10, 21+ – Bryce Woodcock
