The Lucid Dream
Track | Album / Single |
---|---|
Cold Killer | The Lucid Dream |
Alone In Fear | Actualisation |
Mona Lisa | The Lucid Dream |
Bad Texan | Compulsion Songs |
Sweet Hold On Me | Songs Of Lies And Deceit |
The Emptiest Place | Too Pure Singles Club - Pure 302S |
No Sunlight Dub | Actualisation |
SX1000 | Actualisation |
Nadir | Compulsion Songs |
Epitaph | Compulsion Songs |
The Lucid Dream are (clockwise from top left) Wayne Jefferson (guitar, keyboards), Luke Anderson (drums, percussion), Mike Denton (bass), Mark Emmerson (lead vocals, guitar) – concert poster promo photo on the band’s facebook (2013)
Contributor: Ann Sequinworld
The Lucid Dream formed in Carlisle, Cumbria, in 2008. The first ten years went smoothly enough. Then, following a sold out show at the Supersonic Club, Paris, in March 2017, the band had every single piece of equipment stolen from their tour van, including gear that the members had owned since they were 14 years old. The group were left with nothing. A Crowdfund quickly raised £8,000 in pledges, well in advance of the 28 days target. This not only allowed the band to buy new equipment it, crucially, restored their morale. The Lucid Dream are one of the most important, diverse, exciting bands and self proclaimed Psych Traitors. I hope you enjoy this Top Ten and go on to explore The Lucid Dream’s back catalogue.
Cold Killer – The Lucid Dream (2015)
“A melodic wall of sound that batters their audience into happy submission.”
Alone In Fear – Actualisation (2018)
“Infectious chugging motorik rhythms laid over a bedrock of electronica that touches on acid techno.”
Mona Lisa – The Lucid Dream (2015)
“Psych-rock sorcery meets unhinged art-noise at a Beach Boys convention.”
Bad Texan – Compulsion Songs (2016)
“This could be a band with the confidence and self-assurance to actually take their music into a dimension apart, without fear of having to conform.”
Sweet Hold On Me – Songs Of Lies And Deceit (2013)
“Drives the music relentlessly on, evoking a sense of near euphoria through the use of repetition and volume.”
The Emptiest Place – Too Pure Singles Club (2014)
“Beneath the tidal waves of mind-melt psych and torrents of noise there are some genuinely great pieces of songwriting to behold.”
No Sunlight Dub – Actualisation (2018)
“More than a psych band, still a cut above.”
SX1000 – Actualisation (2018)
“A militant thrash powered by rampant beats and harsh electronic tones, violent howls of abrasive, ferocious guitars screaming, howling and ripping into the ears as slamming techno beats punch through the chaos.”
The Lucid Dream at Yes, Manchester, February 2019
– a film by Gordon Baxter @bagmeister21
Nadir – Compulsion Songs (2016)
“Slamming psychedelic techno punk that rampages menacingly.
Epitaph – Compulsion Songs (2016)
“Blends into the mood and feels entirely necessary, kicking up a blizzard of feedback and kit smashing as it nears its climax.”
The self-styled “Psych Traitors”!
The Lucid Dream finished recording their latest album this month (January 2020). No release date yet. Hopefully they’ll be playing somewhere near you this year and you can have a listen to the new material.
“Compulsion Songs is an album of quite extraordinary moments and signals the moment when a band suddenly knows exactly where they want to be for the foreseeable future. The spark has been lit, it simply needs to catch and this band will fly. Even The Lucid Dream must be wondering how they are going to top this one.” Martyn Coppack, Echoes and Dust (2016)
“Actualisation was recorded at Whitewood Studios in Liverpool, with Rob Whiteley, and Ross Halden before being mastered by Dean Honer from 90s dance cult favourites The All Seeing I. The result is startling … The amount of different styles here is astonishing, and the way Emmerson’s band mix them all together is uniquely fascinating. Rebuilding their sound around the essence of their previous output, resilience, defiance, reinvention and momentum have produced one of 2018’s greatest records.” Ben P. Scott, XS Noize (2018)
The Lucid Dream at the Castle Hotel, Manchester, August 2017
– filmed by Ann Sequin World
The Lucid Dream on Holy Are You Recordings
The Lucid Dream biography (Fast ‘n’ Bulbous)
Ann loves the psychedelic music of the 80s/90s. In between gigs, she runs her own business, Sequin World and Bead Monster. This is her sixth post for the site; the first five on Loop, The Heads, Thee Hypnotics, Mudhoney, Wooden Shjips, others are in the pipeline. You can follow her on twitter @ann_sequinworld and other social media sites.
The quotes above are from reviews at the time of each record’s release, paraphrased here and there and attached to a song. This was a cut-up process and the quote may not originally have been about that particular song but … you know what … it doesn’t matter because it works.
TopperPost #834
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