Just in time for the spooky season, South Coast, U.K.-based Safari Inn is dropping its debut EP, Welcome to Safari Inn, on October 27th. The EP blends garage rock and psychedelia with a touch of stoner rock and dream pop with a spooky, mean edge that makes it a good listen for the horror movie marathons of October.
About Safari Inn
Safari Inn is Jen Ahlkvist and Lexi Clark, former members of the garage rock band The Franklys. Jen and Lexi formed the band out of a love of the classic 1993 romantic crime movie written by Quentin Tarantino, True Romance. As they told me, Safari Inn has darker and moodier undertones than their previous group.
Lexi is on drums, and Jen handles lead vocals and guitar. They say Safari Inn is built on a “thunderous rhythm section, crunchy, swirling guitars, and reverb-heavy vocals.”
I think it’s also super-cool this is an all-female psychedelic/stoner band. I’ve noticed many of The Third Eye’s readers are male, so it’s always refreshing to see strong female voices in the psychedelic underground.
The Songs
Welcome to Safari Inn consists of four tracks, so the run time will go by fast. However, after a few listens, all four are solid songs. The party starts with the first single, “Drexl Spivey,” released earlier this year and presenting a haunting and alluring intro to Safari Inn’s sound. The track was premiered exclusively by BBC on its release and was described by presenter Melita Dennett as “a banger.”
Side note about this: Wow, the BBC has come a long way. I’ve been reading a lot of rock history lately, and the BBC was notoriously prudish when rock music exploded in the Sixties. BBC was constantly banning songs from airplay for numerous slightly offensive material, and continued to later on. Safari Inn’s “Drexl Spivey” isn’t very controversial, but to have a BBC host call it a “banger” is progress, I guess.
“Drexl Spivey” is a cool track with a driving guitar riff and the aforementioned thunderous drumming. Jen’s vocals are urgent and passionate, and the track has a definite gothic feel as she repeats, “I still love you.” She has a great voice that reminds me of Neko Case.
“Blue Lou Boyle” comes next, another rocking song. “This is who you are!” Jen screams over the wall of noise, and I sensed that whoever this Lou Boyle character is, he’s definitely on Safari Inn’s shitlist. The song also has an excellent instrumental breakdown with some wicked sound effects.
The EP’s second single, “The Sun Sets Slowly in the West,” will be released on October 20th. It shows an even heavier side of Safari Inn, with Sabbath-like riffs and a frenzied tempo change that closes the song.
“Dinosaur Corkscrew” is the last track, giving off heavy Black Angels vibes. Jen’s vocals have the same amplified distortion as on the other tracks, creating a powerful presence in her voice. “Dinosaur” is another hard-rocking track on an EP that puts the pedal to the metal and never lets up.
Final Thoughts
Welcome to Safari Inn is a nice debut from this U.K.-based duo that fans of stoner and heavy psych should welcome. The only negative I could think of is that I wish there were more than four tracks, but it is an EP, after all. I hope the band works on more new material and possibly a full-length. We shall see.
Fans of The Black Angels should like what they created here, along with other Third Eye favorites like Giobia and The Savage Blush. As we mentioned, this is excellent nightmarish psychedelia for October, so play it loud on the front porch and scare away all the trick-or-treaters this Halloween. Welcome to Safari drops on October 27th and you’ll be able to find it on all streaming platforms.
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