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On the Radar: Space Mushroom Fuzz

Does Space Mushroom Fuzz exist? Well, if you open up two of their Bandcamps at the same time, then they exist twice. Did I just blow your mind? Good. Then you’re ready for the head-drenched effects jams of the Boston duo’s home-recorded debut, When Time Trippers Collide. The band, whatever they might lack in moniker and album titling proficiency, more than compensate for with the six extended tracks of the record itself, which is right up there with the heart of European next-gen psych heavies like Samsara Blues Experiment or even Electric Moon if Space Mushroom Fuzz were going to do it for 80 minutes at a clip.

The major difference between Space Mushroom Fuzz and those bands? It’s just two dudes. East Coasters might recognize the be-chapeaued Adam Abrams above from space-prog explorers Blue Aside or the newly-reborn Palace in Thunderland. In Space Mushroom Fuzz, Abrams handles guitar, bass, vocals and some drums and is joined by drummer John Belcastro. All of the music on When Time Trippers Collide was recorded between June 1 and June 20, 2012, and if you’re saying to yourself, “June 20? That’s today!” you’re absolutely right, but the release date isn’t listed as being until tomorrow, so wrap your head around that, time tripper.

But though the nature of the band means that not all these layers can come together improvised in a live setting, there’s a good deal of When Time Trippers Collide that feels made up on the spot, or at lease built on a basic rudimentary guitar/drum jam that was. If the tradeoff though for a not-all-live recording is going to be the bassline of “Watching the Watcher,” I’ll take it. Other highlights include the Tee-Pee Records-worthy vibe worship of “Space is Blue” and the jazzy hypnosis of “Shine on You Crazy Train Part 2.” Great way to zone yourself out.

And yeah, they’ve got some kinks to work out, but for a project to go from nothing to released — even if it’s just on their Bandcamp page — in 20 days is nothing to sneeze at. I have the feeling we could hear a lot more from Space Mushroom Fuzz in the future. Projects like this always seem to be infinitely expanding.

Here’s the album stream:

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