The Alchemysts - A Surreal Meal: The Best Of The Alchemysts (2000)

The Alchemysts were a Bridgewater power trio, who formed in the late 80's, and released a three-track cassette in 1991, which contained some superb neo-psyche, and which I still own. By 1995 they has signed a deal with Behemoth Records, who released their debut album 'One Eyed Again', and which included the three tracks from the 1991 cassette. It introduced the Alchemysts to the world as a grunge-tinged nineties update on the previous decade's British neo-psych scene. Trading in spacey tones for muscular crunch, leader Paul Simmons digs hard into the riffs and solos, like he's trying to blend Jimi Hendrix with Ron Asheton. Bassist Jon Guard and drummer Mat Love nimbly keep the propulsion going without ever lumbering. 'Swarm', 'A Road' and 'Blind Side' could have come just as easily out of Seattle in 1991 as the U.K. four years later, and the highlight of the records is the fuzz 'n' feedback epic 'Stoned In Jerusalem'. In 1998 they moved to the Australian psyche label Camera Obscura and released 'Over And Out', which carried on in much the same vein. 'Forget About It' throws in sitars and backwards guitars for a surprisingly sensual opening cut, but then all bets are off. 'Harhowaloy' pounds its hard rock mercilessly, while 'Alpha Centauri' practically overloads on acidic effects. '25th Of July' moves from seething acid folk to explosive power rock, while 'Big Black Beetles' adds swathes of noisy Aussie postpunk to the proceedings, When Bevis Frond leader Nick Saloman's label Woronzow entered into a partnership with NYC's Rubric Records, the heavy psych outfit released a pair of stellar records on Rubric/Woronzow: 'Simeon & the Alchemysts', a strange and oft-stunning collaboration with Simeon of Silver Apples, and 'Zero Zen', a trippy powerhouse that ended up being the band's last, with guitarist Paul Simmons going on to join the Frond. Although the band only released four albums during their lifetime, they are one of my favourite neo-psyche outfits, alongside The Bevis Frond and Sun Dial, and hopefully this collection of some of their best work will introduce them to a new audience.  

Track listing

01 Stoned in Jerusalem (from 'One Eyed Again' 1995)
02 Big Black Beetles (from 'Over And Out' 1998)
03 Magellanic (from 'Simeon & The Alchemysts' 2000)
04 Glass Cars (from 'Zero Zen' 2000)
05 Drop Out! (from 'For The Dead In Space Volume 1' compilation 1987)
06 Bloody Mary (from 'One Eyed Again' 1995) 
07 A Surreal Meal (from 'Over And Out' 1998) 
08 Hydrophobic (from 'Simeon & The Alchemysts' 2000)
09 Thee Head Chemyst (from 'Over And Out' 1998)
10 DMT Blues (from 'Zero Zen' 2000)