The Mystery Lights
(Daptone Records)
Tickets:
https://www.tixforgigs.com/de-de/Event/62891/the-mystery-lights-aalhaus-hamburg
After some well-earned rest and relaxation the Mystery Lights return with their most ambitious offering to date. With Wayne Gordon back in the producer's chair, the group along with long-time label, Wick Records, prepare to release their third full-length, Purgatory.
The Mystery Lights story begins in 2004 in the small town of Salinas California when friends Michael Brandon and Luis Alfonso - whose shared fondness for groups like The Mc5, VelvetUnderground, Dead Moon, and The Fall (to name a few) - joined forces to craft their own brand of unhinged rock and roll. From there they spent the better part of 10 years touring relentlessly before migrating to Queens, New York in 2014.
With a live show known for its raw, visceral energy and relentless assault – leaving little to no stoppage between songs – they barreled through countless NYC haunts and DIY venues, quickly amassing a fervent local following. The buzz soon caught the attention of Daptone Records execs who were in the beginning stages of launching a new rock-centric imprint, Wick Records. Impressed by the groups’ musicianship, groove, endless supply of energy, and understanding of musical history the Mystery Lights were quickly signed to Wick. Though a rock band at heart, the parallels to what Daptone Records had traditionally looked for in their Soul artists was undeniable.
Upon the release of their self-titled full-length on June 24 th 2016 The Mystery Lights were quickly crowned “one of New York’s finest garage rock bands” by NME. Extensive touring, including multiple stops in Europe, Asia and Australia followed which found the group graduating from support slots at hole-in-the-wall clubs to headlining stages at major festivals worldwide. After two years of break-neck, non-stop touring, the group settled back into Queens to prepare for their second full-length record, Too Much Tension. While keeping the hard-hitting approach of the firstLP, Too Much Tension found the group digging deeper into their well of eclectic influences, enriching their sound while echoing the past.
With their new album on the horizon and loaded US/EU tours on the books it would be remiss to not mention one of the biggest hurdles the band has ever faced. Shortly after plans were set to join producer Wayne Gordon at his new studio in Los Angeles, bass player Alex Amini had a terrible motorcycle accident, leaving him with 12 broken bones and a mountain of hospital bills. With the support of friends, family and a tremendous helping of good fortune, Alex recovered well enough to join the group for the recording sessions in LA .
Purgatory delivers an eclectic mix of real-deal psychedelia, punk, art rock, and even a splash of country via the Kinks(y) pop earworm "I'm Sorry I Forgot Your Name". The psychedelic highlights of the album, "Purgatory", "Cerebral Crack" and "Can't Sleep Through the Silence", are dark and trippy, landing somewhere between the guitar-driven, lysergic mayhem of the 13th Floor Elevators and the punked-up, tongue-in-cheek insanity of The Monks. But throughout there's a cohesiveness threaded by the elevated musicianship, earnest lyrics and attention to detail that make for a fiercely raw, yet unabashedly catchy album–dripping with all of the sing along hooks that have made Mystery Lights one of the most exciting live bands on the scene.
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