Psychedelic music can be many things, but not many are quite like Fomies brand of the genre. This Swiss five piece throws some punk rock a la The Dead Milkmen into the mix and describes themselves as:
“Great followers of the D.I.Y., FOMIES is a garage-fuzz band mainly inspired by obscure records badly recorded in weird places.”
That weirdness shines through in their music, making it a thoroughly interesting listen. Their new album, Sudden Lag, was released on October 21st, 2022.
About Sudden Lag
This album is an unexpected gem, running the gamut from punk to stoner fuzz to psych atmospheres, using influences that sound to me as if members of The Sex Pistols, The Dead Milkmen, The Talking Heads, and The B-52s suddenly dropped their main gig in favor of psych weirdness, with the end result being something so out of the ordinary that it’s impossible to ignore.
Of these 8 songs, I find that “Ego Trip” is the most psychedelic sounding of the album: probably more on the heavy psych end of the spectrum. The verses still have that punk flavor of the bands I’ve already mentioned, but it’s rooted in psych. The chorus is full of fuzzed-out guitars that seem to rage on perfectly, and as the song moves forward, it continues to get better and better.
The album opens with “Noiseless Noise” and is our first taste of what this band is about. There’s a Middle Eastern feel in some of the riffs thanks to the scales they come from, the vocals are punky, and the overall vibe is still psychedelic for the most part. I think the tracks incorporating more of the weird punk fell are the best of the bunch, but each song is special in its own strangely odd way.
“Sudden Lag” is my second favorite, and that’s because it’s the first time that I really understood the extent of their punk leanings and the first time I heard a Dead Milkmen influence. Also, I love how catchy it is despite being a little more all over the place than some of the other bands I enjoy.
“A9” begins with a Grateful Dead-influenced sound, a fact that almost saw me skipping the song altogether; I hate the Dead except for about 3 songs. Right before I hit the next track button, it changed into something that reminded me of King Buffalo but with Fomies’ own special twist. This perked me up, and I decided to listen to the whole song … a wise choice, as it turned out. Fomies’ use of dynamics is powerful, using a bombastic section that is all riff, all fuzzed up, and in total contrast with the verses. The leads are excellent and help add to the intensity of the track.
“The Elevator” is the shortest song on Sudden Lag, clocking in just shy of 3 minutes. Of the 5 songs we’ve covered, this one is high on the list of favorites, using a stoner-punk-influenced riff that powers the song, and towards the end, it drops into a brief but very cool psych section.
The three other songs are “Lifted,” “Foggy Disposition,” and “The Journey of Ganzor,” and each of them is very cool
I particularly liked “The Journey of Ganzor,” which sees the band doing something totally different for the first 3 and a half minutes of the song and then dropping into the more familiar territory before changing again to end the track.
Final Thoughts
Fomies creates music that can be so many different things, sometimes simultaneously. The way they write and perform their songs is interesting and highly entertaining, so head over to Bandcamp and give the album a slice of your time; it’ll be well worth it, in my opinion. Enjoy!
Support Fomies by checking out his Bandcamp or find them on social media (Instagram, Facebook).
This review was written by Tom Hanno, who has been writing reviews for the last 7 years but has been sharing his love of music for the majority of his life. Originally starting out at the now defunct Chimera Magazine, he is currently contributing to Doomed and Stoned, The Sleeping Shaman, The Doom Charts, Tom’s Reviews, and The Third Eye. Read more of Tom’s reviews by checking out his Linktree.