Enhancing the nostalgia and breadth of 60s psychedelic rock and roll are the brilliant Arizona based band, The Myrrors. The band are currently touring to showcase their exceptional musical wit, as what they define as “Sonoran trance music”. Even at first listen, this is evidently an accurate definition for the genre and aura that emanates from their compositions.

The Tucson imagery of mountain ranges and desert land are located in the heart of the band’s music, and the gritty yet euphoric atmosphere of each piece encapsulates the essence of this sphere. The band’s depth of sound not only captures the experimental elements of psychedelia, but also levels the music on the same wave as kaleidoscopic film scores which transcend any listener to another realm.

Whilst The Star and Garter may be an questionable venue for many, it jigsawed marvellously with The Myrror’s unpolished and unconventional aesthetic, almost replicating a 60s dungeon-like tone. It was certainly refreshing as an audience member to feel thrown back in time; not a synthesiser was in sight and the addition of woodwind, brass and strings encouraged the orchestral semblance even further. After all, when these multi-instrumentalists played in full swing, there was no telling that only four people were performing besides the fact that there were merely that many on stage. In addition, the use of the violin was enormously effective – think of a guitar solo then replace it with a single violin, it’s no myth that few bands could make that sound decent.

However, the thing most fascinating about The Myrrors was the way in which they didn’t perform for the sake of a “good show”, but rather to play well and therefore welcome praise only in the hands of how it all sounded, and that only. This concluded in an extremely appreciative audience that were there to just listen, often the way it perhaps should be.

Bronwyn Riseley
@BronwynRiseley