Album Review: II by The Psychic Paramount

There seems to be no proper explanation, only guesses, as to what the Pink Floyd song title “Pow R. Toc H.” signifies. Neither “Power Torch” nor “Power Touch” really works. And some info on an army club turned Christian fellowship called the Toc. H (code for Talbot House) doesn’t ….

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It's been almost six years since the Psychic Paramount's last album, Gamelan Into the Mink Supernatural. Normally a hiatus that long indicates a need to reform, retool, or in some way restart. But apparently this New York trio just gestated, growing their music into something wider, thicker, and harder to define. In huge jams that soar, crash, and smolder-- often at the same time-- the band pumps extra blood and muscle into their sound, as if stretching a balloon into a blimp.

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Three gentlemen from New York who come off like they’re mad at the rest of rock for not taking the term ‘power trio’ literally enough, The Psychic Paramount formed in the early Noughties after guitarist Drew St Ivany and bassist Ben Armstrong broke up their improbably-named jazz-rock quartet Laddio Bolocko – who also provided a drummer for The Mars Volta, specifically Blake Fleming, for a couple of stints. Almost as improbably, they hurled themselves straight into a tour of mainland Europe before anyone could possibly have heard them. About half of their discography to date features scuzzy live recordings of these European shows, but really, it’s the other segment you need to be wise to.

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Drew St. Ivany, guitarist for Manhattan abstract noise trio the Psychic Paramount, told the Village Voice last week: “Our creative process is both lazy and ambitious, so it takes a long time. ” That’s all you have to say after hiding in the void for five years following the pivotal release of your debut? What band kills the PR train like that and then apologizes by saying they’re lazy? I thought the Pyschic Paramount had evaporated into nothingness, went the route of Syd Barrett, or permanently exiled themselves to bang cymbals and guitars in French underground clubs where they could be best accepted.

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The Psychic Paramount Are you ready for “The Psychic Paramount II”? Have you checked your hydration, nerves, attention span? Been jumping rope, taking your Omega 3? This is instrumental power-trio prog-rock for those who never had time for Rush and find the Mars Volta a bridge to nowhere; it.

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