Liverpool has always been home to great music, with The Beatles, Echo and the Bunnymen, Elvis Costello, and many more calling it home at one point in their careers. Cool music is still coming from the area in 2023, and today we’ll talk about one of them. The band’s name is Tablets, and on this past Christmas Eve, they released their Sun – EP.
About Sun – EP
This EP contains 7 tracks of psychedelic rock that is poppy, bright, and has a 60s vibe that brings The Beatles to mind in more than a few places; their logo uses a similar font to The Beatles, which subliminally adds to the comparison.
Additionally, their Bandcamp profile says that Tablets says …
“Special thanks to Yoko and Sean Ono Lennon and the John Lennon Memorial Scholarship for funding this record into existence.”
It makes sense that this record would be chosen for that award, as the music is a modern nod to the psych era of The Beatles and adds yet another subliminal comparison to that storied band.
Before we get into a few tracks, I want to let you know that The Beatles are not their only influence. I also hear some Jefferson Airplane, The Doors, The Monkees, and other sounds applied to their music in tasteful and creative ways; there’s even a little bit of western movie vibes in a few spots.
The first track is titled “Sunshine,” which has a counterpart called “Sunshine (Jam)” as the second to last track. The two of these tracks eat up over half of the album, but I don’t think anyone will complain once they give an ear to both.
“Sunshine” opens the album with just over 6 minutes of cool music. The opening riff serves as the main riff of the song, and it has this groovy thing going on that is heavy, yet not; it actually serves as the main riff of “Sunshine (Jam)” as well. As the track moves forward, things change from time to time, becoming more mellow, but Tablet always comes back to that first guitar part to power the track. The jam-oriented sections are super cool, and the 11 minutes of “Sunshine (Jam)” explores that to an even more psychedelic extreme and is actually the more interesting of the two tracks, but I actually really loved both of them.
Track number 2 goes by the name “I Am the Sun” and is another favorite of mine. It is only about 2 minutes long, much more laid back than its predecessor, and less intense. The guitar tones are mostly clean, which really adds to that mellow feel that can be indicative of psych music.
Directly after that is “We’ll Meet Again/Dirty Mac,” another laid-back song that is not quite as relaxed as “I Am the Sun.” The vocal melodies are slick, and there’s an underlying vibe of flamenco or western movie origin. “Dirty Mac” ups the speed and intensity in a way that feels natural and fulfilling to the listener. Its catchy, upbeat vibes are the perfect counterpart to the first part of this very cool track.
Final Thoughts
Tablets’ Sun – EP is the coolest thing I’ve heard in 2023. The Beatles definitely inspired Tablets, but so did many other bands that helped them achieve a style called “like The Beatles, but weirder.” So, I suggest all you psych aficionados head over to Bandcamp or YouTube and wrap your ears around this album. It’s 27 minutes of exactly what you’re looking for! Enjoy!
Support Tablets by checking out their Bandcamp.
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.
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