All Night Radio

★★★★ Spirit Stereo Frequency

Beachwood Sparks duo’s jubilant psych-pop venture.

In 2007, Los Angeleans Dave Scher (guitar) and Jimi Hey (drums) imagined a mystery radio station at the far end of the dial, playing a mash-up of all their favourite stuff. Their attempt to synthesise the playlist over 10 freewheeling segments partly aligned with the Byrds-country-psych leanings of their band Beachwood Sparks, and no surprise that The Beach Boys and The Beatles are totems here, yet there were just as many good ’90s vibrations, kicking up the same cosmic dust as Mercury Rev and the Elephant 6 mob. There are concise songs – Sky Bicycle is gorgeous; the closing title track is both the longest song and the best hook – but the greatest impression is a manic, whooshing energy, like the listener is strapped to a dizzily looping rollercoaster of sound. It’s so good, you wonder why they never tried again. BIG POTATO. DL/LP