This Wednesday, Oct. 11, The Silver Linings will release their debut album, Pink Fish (review here), through Spinda Records. Classic space rock abounds on the Andalusian five-piece’s seven-songer, and the simple answer is that’s why I’m streaming it. Yeah, I did the earlier premiere linked above, but some records should be heard in their entirety, and with the particular shimmering pastoralia that seems to be a regional specialty for a number of acts — the PR wire lists some of them below; Híbrido, Plastic Woods, Santo Rostro, etc. — the band conjures a malleable balance of styles that spans generations of lysergic and progressive influences. And then you get to the fuzz. Why am I streaming this record? Friggin’ listen to it and find out.

I had never been to the Iberian Peninsula at all until this past August — which given my age feels like neglect — and I hope to go back at some point, but while I was in Portugal for this year’s SonicBlast Fest, I met Berto Cáceres, who heads Spinda Records based in Andalucía, and in a longer, sit-down, face-and-voice-to-name conversation, he told me about how in the early ’70s in Spain, that area, which is the gateway from Europe to Africa and vice versa, was how Spain got both its records and its weed while living under dictatorship (it’s kind of incredible how much of 20th century Spanish politics was defined by Franco), and so became a place of openness and art and creativity even when living under state oppression. Not quite a rebellion, maybe, but a little one. A good historical narrative, if nothing else.

And surely, the legacy of that progressive creativity is what we’re hearing in “Cosmic Excursions” or the tambourine-shaking and wailing guitar solo plus keys of “Heart Full of Gold,” but if The Silver Linings are showing themselves as part of the lineage described above, then inherent to that is a sense of looking beyond the confines of one’s own time and place. Past and future intertwine in a liquefied aural presence, the sound sending notes and melodies into an open expanse in “In the Fleeting Hand of Time” as it builds on the otherworldly propositions of “A Pleasant Trip into the Unknown,” begun with a sample of then-US President Ronald Reagan talking about aliens uniting the planet — one of a very select few things about which he was correct — before the band take off on a jaunt of trippy boogie that will land them in the quirk of “Pink Fish” before “Patient M” pulls back to more solidified ground, the guitar practically begging early on for the saxophone that joins soon enough.

One could go on — perpetually, it seems; dude, shut up — about the nuances in The Silver Linings‘ approach, the twists that Pink Fish presents over the course of its 37 minutes, but, well, I already did that, and how many huge block paragraphs do you really need at the start of what I’m sure will be a busy week? Let’s wrap it up, hmm?

The Silver Linings aren’t a revolution in psych on their first record, and they aren’t trying to be. What they do is to encompass a broad range of influences from ’60s garage and ’70s and ’80s prog with Andalusian folk, heavy, and modern neo-psych elements. A heady brew, and a potent one if you’re willing to be swept along by the album, which for a debut is awfully easy to follow on its path. Again, you can hear for yourself. I say, give it a shot. Worst case scenario, you quit your job and decide to wander the earth as a mushroom-snarfing wizard muttering existentialisms to yourself for the rest of your days. Also that’s the best case scenario.

Either way, enjoy:

Preorder link: https://spindarecords.bandcamp.com/album/pink-fish

Formed in Malaga in 2021, The Silver Linings self-released their debut EP ‘TSL’ in May 2023. Just a few days later they signed with the indie label Spinda Records (Moura, Fin del Mundo, Moundrag, Maragda) and returned to the studio to record some additional songs. The result is ‘Pink Fish’, a first full-length that is now available on main streaming services and physical formats.

After telling us the story of the “Patient M” and taking us to the deep space with “Cosmic excursions” in September, Málaga-based quintet The Silver Linings have just released ‘Pink Fish’. This debut album will delight fans of genres such as psychedelia, acid rock, space rock or kraut; and immediately places them within the new wave of Andalusian psychedelia, along with bands like Híbrido, Lunavieja, Medicina, Plastic Woods, Santo Rostro, Mia Turbia, Se permiten submarinos, DMBK or Gu Vo.

In this debut album, The Silver Linings are highly influenced by 20th century sci-fi, Moorcock’s literature, Moebius’ illustrations, Tarkovsky’s cinema, Jodorovsky’s work and the poetry of the beat generation; in addition to natural landscapes of Andalusia such as El Torcal in Antequera, the Gorafe desert, the dunes of Bolonia and the Strait of Gibraltar.

Recorded, mixed and mastered at Hollers Analog Studio, and with an artwork by Antonio Ramírez (Viaje a 800, Atavismo, Medicina, Bourbon), ‘Pink Fish’ is now available as part of Spinda Records ‘The Trippy Series’ on the following formats:

▪ Digital
▪ 150x Compact Disc (digisleeve)
▪ 150x Black Vinyl (hand-numbered; includes digital download)
▪ 150x Clear Orange Vinyl (hand-numbered; includes digital download)

Upcoming live dates:
Nov 09 | Málaga (SP) @ Festival Moments 10 | + Rosy Finch
Nov 11 | Málaga (SP) @ La Caverna
Nov 25 | Sevilla (SP) @ Monkey Week | + Fin del Mundo, Travo and Maragda

The Silver Linings:
Javi – guitar/vocals
Cati – guitar
Jose – bass
Lolo – drums
Marta – sax

The Silver Linings on Facebook

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The Silver Linings on Bandcamp

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Spinda Records website

Tags: Málaga, Pink Fish, Spain, Spinda Records, The Silver Linings, The Silver Linings Pink Fish

This entry was posted on Monday, October 9th, 2023 at 5:39 am and is filed under audiObelisk. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.