In 2017, the Japanese band Acid Mothers Temple made their first tour in South America. For their show in Buenos Aires they invited the Argentinean band Reynols. The show eventually lead to a studio collaboration and a rock documentary, both released this year under the name Acid Mothers Reynols.
Acid Mothers Temple is a psychedelic rock collective formed in Japan in 1995 and led by guitarist Makoto Kawabata. Their back catalogue contains probably more music than could ever be fit within the standard definition of the term ‘ prolific’. For example, since Corona virus conquered the world and put a hold on the live music scene, they have uploaded more than 100 releases on their official youtube channel to keep their fans stuck in quarantine sane.
Reynols formed in 1993 as an experimental group with a distinctive signature which takes typical sounds of rock and noise and transcend them into avant-garde. This and the fact that the vocalist and drummer Miguel Tomasín has Down syndrome, gained Reynols the reputation of being a cult and inclusive group. But regarding this, I very much liked what the guitarist Roberto Conlazo declared in an interview for The Wire when he was asked which is the biggest misunderstanding about Reynols in his opinion, Conlazo replied: ‘The biggest misunderstanding is that people say we included Tomasín, but in fact they are forgetting he is the one including us.’ (Forever in the present: an interview with Reynols, The Wire – August 2019)
The album Acid Mothers Reynols – Vol 1 was recorded, produced and mixed in Argentina. The opening track, and the longest on the album, is Outside the Inner Temple. It begins with a repeated flute tune, soon to be accompanied by soft guitar chords and drum and bass tones, flowing all together into a melancholic psych folk shoegaze. As the song evolves, the guitar weaves harsher and more experimental sounds, making ways for vocal chanting and subtle drone glitches, from which emerged a perfect incantation. The mad piano introducing Inti-Ra Wild Saloon backed up by a seemingly out of tune vocal transports us to a bizarre ambience imitating bar life in the Old West. You almost expect gun shots to stop what it seems an alcohol induced bliss. This track evokes a scene worthy of being included in a The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy adaptation. After this short break and journey to a cosmic saloon, Traces of Sunyata Squash takes us back to the realm of slow incantations and trance-inducing dreamy guitars. Bo Bubbles is a track where Led Zep sound meets drones, where rock’n’roll meets the outer space and where suddenly you cannot help but wishing to start dancing.
The encounter between Acid Mothers Temple and Reynols has been also documented by the director Alejandro Maly in Acid Mothers Reynols. Live and Beyond. The documentary contains great live and backstage footage with both bands, interviews with the band members, the making-of the album and its studio recording, and it was included in the Tusk Festival 2020. Trailer below.
As the album title refers to Vol 1, we can only hope and wait impatiently for the upcoming volumes.
Trailer Documentary – Acid Mothers Reynols. Live and Beyond.
Director Alejandro Maly, 2020
MORE INFO
- released February 28, 2020 via Vert Pituite La Belle, collection La Belle Brute
- Orders on Bandcamp
- Acid Mothers Temple Official Youtube Channel and Official Facebook
- Reynols Official Facebook
- Tusk Festival 2020
