Turn On, Tune In, Freak Out!

It would be fair to say Hibushibire’s 2017 debut album Freak Out Orgasm! went down well with fans of psych-rock (call it what you will). So far it’s had three vinyl pressings, two cassette pressings and a CD run back in Japan.

Now they return with second album Turn On, Tune In, Freak Out!. Once again the album is produced by Makoto Kawabata (Acid Mothers Temple, Mainliner) and for me it's the next logical step in the bands sonic development. As with its predecessor, side one consists of three tracks, Ecstasy Highwaystar / Blow! Blow! Blow! / Overdose, Pussycat! More! More!, (they do like an exclamation mark). Some of these titles will be familiar if you've followed the band's live shows in recent times, and it's pretty much a guitar to the front, full gonzo-style hard-rocking psychedelic freak out from the first blast of Changchang's guitar panning from left to right before the main riff kicks it all off.

Again, as with their debut, side two comprises of just one epic length track. Rollercoaster Of The Universe clocks in at seventeen minutes and is, in my humble opinion, the sound of the band moving onto the next level during its journey. It's a shudderingly beautiful piece, with many hypnotic twists and turns.