NEIGH!!

Every year means a new Motorpsycho album! Last year saw the release of the more acoustically inclined Yay!, and Motorpsycho continues that front into a more overtly psychedelic folk range with Neigh!! This record certainly has a different feel from Yay! That much is certain. Like many Motorpsycho releases before, Neigh!! certainly has a strong progressive rock edge to it that I quite enjoy. You certainly hear it first hand in the opening of Psycholab, being this mix of old school psychedelic rock akin to Jefferson Airplane, with that same Motorpsycho flair that I like.

In fact, I'd say the proggy elements are probably the best thing on here, probably better than what was on Yay!. Where Yay! was a record that had its strengths lie within the acoustic driven psych rock, Neigh!! is a lot stronger within the prog department, feeling almost like the secret fourth album from the band's 2000-2002 output. I can feel a strong energy from Phanerothyme and Let Them Eat Cake on here, and I really enjoy it a lot. It gives the record some charm for me, especially since I quite like more psychedelic prog stuff Motorpsycho can put out.

At the same time, though, it feels like a step back from Yay! in a lot of places. I really wanted to see if they'd continue on with that more overtly psychedelic pop sound off last year's record. In fact I thought it'd be neat if the band would make a non-prog record for the first time in a long while. You know, change up the pace, keep us Motorpsycho heads on our toes. However, even with the more psychedelic folk elements sprung throughout, the more progressive rock leaning focus this album has makes it feel less like continuing the exciting new twist that Yay! delivered, and more like business as usual for the band, which is really odd for me. It feels almost weirdly cut and dry. The prog hits good, but at the same time I really wanted to see that other side of Motorpsycho. Their prog is amazing, always has been, but their psychedelic pop scores are also amazing too!

Though, there are still some tracks that continue a bit from Yay!. Return To Sanity is a good example of this, being this nice, cool, and mellow psych folk track that reminds me quite a bit of Bob Dylan's music. As well as this, Revenants, and Condor do quite a good job at showcasing that very same type of sound, though in their own unique lights, like a bit more of a lo-fi sound on Revenants, and a nice little echo on the electric guitar of Condor. I like them quite a bit!

But the thing is they just feel weaker than what was delivered on Yay!. They don't feel half-assed, since I doubt Motorpsycho would just do that for their music, but at the same time I just don't quite like them as much as what was shown on Yay!. Yay! had this level of beauty and glamor to its presentation and sound that made its uniqueness quite stellar to go through. Neigh!!, however, doesn't seem to have that. It feels kind of sterilized in a weird way, and I really don't like that. It is probably the worst thing about this album honestly. There is no flavor of weirdness or uniqueness on here, and for that it makes it feel like a step back. For what it is worth, I still like the album, and I know Motorpsycho can bounce back from this. But at the same time, this record is definitely quite the let down, especially after a stream of banger after banger ever since 2017's The Tower.

I certainly wished I could've loved this album, but I simply felt quite lukewarm on it. Perhaps next year will lead to better results.

Best tracks: Psycholab, This Is Your Captain, Elysium Soon

Worst track: Edgar's Bathtub