September and October are always loaded with stellar releases, and a quick Bandcamp dig confirms we’re in for another bounty this year. But let’s not skip past August. It delivered more than its share of excellent psych sounds.
I haven’t done a monthly roundup in a while (life has a way of getting in the way), but I jumped back in for August and was rewarded with a stack of incredible finds.
On another note …
Lately, as the world spirals, I keep coming back to William Butler Yeats’s “The Second Coming.” The center cannot hold, and somewhere out there, a great beast is still slouching toward Bethlehem. Collapse may be creeping in, but until it swallows us whole, we might as well have the perfect soundtrack.
Here are The Third Eye’s favorite August 2025 releases …
Calendar Year by Jessica Risker
Chicago-based musician, visual artist, and psychotherapist Jessica Risker returned in August with Calendar Year, her first album in seven years, released via the great Island House Recordings.
Featuring an ensemble of Chicago musicians, the record blends introspective folk with lush psychedelia, unfolding as a wistful meditation on human connection. This is Island House’s first singer-songwriter release, and while it’s not the usual Island House fare, it’s pretty freakin’ awesome.
Lady by Children Of The Mushroom
This first-ever release captures post–Children of the Mushroom recordings from 1971, showcasing the band, by then renamed Lady, blending hard psych and garage rock power with prog-rock flourishes inspired by Jethro Tull, Steamhammer, and Bloodrock.
Featuring fuzz-drenched guitar, Hammond organ, flute, and commanding vocals, the set includes pristine studio demos from Village Recorders alongside raw, killer live cuts from the same year. It’s incredible stuff and the type of rare, early psych era sounds that I think most Third Eye readers will love.
Love Pedals by The Stargazer Lillies
Love Pedals by The Stargazer Lilies arrived in August via Shore Dive Records and Little Cloud Records, and it instantly grabbed my attention.
Anchored in psychedelic shoegaze and dreampop with heavy ambient flourishes, the project is helmed by Kim Field (vocals) and John Ceparano (instruments, production), with mastering by James Aparicio (and cover art by the band and EJ DeCoske).
I don’t know much about the band other than that they’re from Winter Haven, Florida, and the single, “Ambient Light,” blew me away.
Land Back by The Myrrors
After a long silence, Sonoran drone rock visionaries The Myrrors returned in August with Land Back, a fierce, politically charged follow-up to 2018’s Borderlands, forged from late-2021 desert jam sessions by founding members N.R. Safi, Grant Beyschau, and Miguel Urbina.
Blending their trademark minimalism, spiritual jazz, and raga with wildfire urgency, the album channels anti-imperialist resistance into a hypnotic soundscape of fuzz, flute, saxophone, and revolution. Any release from this band is worth owning, and I’m thrilled to see new music from them.
The Manic Excessive Sounds Of by The Warlocks
L.A. psych rock mainstays The Warlocks return with The Manic Excessive Sounds Of, a sprawling journey that balances emotionally charged, classic songcraft with the free-form jams fans crave.
Alongside a four-week European tour and videos for “We Are All Lost” and “You Can’t Lose a Broken Heart,” the album plunges into both the deepest lows and the highest highs of their sonic universe. There’s a ton of great psychedelia coming from L.A. right now, and this is one of ’em.
Twist Of Fate by Dre Perish
Dre Perish’s Twist Of Fate, recorded and mixed in New Orleans during 2024–2025, offers a DIY-fueled fusion of alternative, garage‑psychedelic, and dream‑pop textures delivered with bold energy and lyrical flair.
“NO OTHER WAY” grabbed me immediately, combining a NOLA swamp style with psychedelia in a wildly unique fusion. Very interesting stuff.
Nihil Ninlil by Asterias
No list would be complete without an Echodelick Records release.
Asterias drifts from primordial waters into deep-space currents, now embodied by Sarantis Charvas (Amon Acid, ex-Outer Head) and Dave Shields (ex-Monster Killed By Laser, ex-Outer Head, Cowtown). Together, they channel a fractal sound language of astral travel and creation’s echoes, piloting the living starship Asterias beyond the birth of universes … or something.
Put another way, it’s another killer Echodelick release that fuses heavy psych with stoner and acid rock. Turn up the volume on this one.
Damned To The Depths by Seedy Jeezus
Six years in the making, Seedy Jeezus’s third studio album is their most emotionally charged and sonically expansive yet, exploring death through one side of grief and another of mourning, with dark psychedelia, heavy riffs, and introspective lyricism.
Produced and performed by Tony Reed alongside Paul Crick, Mark Sibson, and Lex Waterreus and featuring haunting flute by Kasinda Faase and artwork by the late Michel Henricot, the record kicks ass.
Another Echodelick gem.
EP1 + EP2 by Half Hexagon
Half Hexagon’s EP1 + EP2 brings together the band’s first two EPs on a limited 12″ vinyl, each featuring an exclusive bonus track, “The Isness” and “Best Foot Work,” not available on streaming platforms.
The collection solidifies their cosmic sound in textured alt-electronic, kosmische, krautrock, and psych-pop style, crafted by the New Zealand trio Yolanda Fagan, Julien Dyne, and James Milne.
Atoms in the Void by Ivan The Tolerable & Hawksmoor
Atoms in the Void unites Hawksmoor’s James McKeown and Ivan the Tolerable’s Oli Heffernan for a heady blend of cosmic jazz, experimental drone, and hallucinatory soundscapes distilled into concise, hypnotic pieces. From the pastoral unease of “Anise” to the Lynchian mystery of “Machen,” the album offers an evocative trip through droning beauty and dreamlike tension.
Ivan the Tolerable is incredibly prolific and it’s hard to keep up with his massive output, but this record in particular is a great one.
Hyperglyph by Chicago Underground Duo
Last but not least …
After an 11-year hiatus, composer/trumpeter Rob Mazurek and composer/drummer Chad Taylor reunite as Chicago Underground Duo for Hyperglyph, a masterful fusion of avant-jazz, electronics, and deep rhythmic traditions shaped by three decades of collaboration.
Recorded and mixed with engineer Dave Vettraino, the album distills the Duo’s singular sound into a kaleidoscopic journey of spiritual intensity and telepathic interplay. It’s an International Anthem release, so you know it’s quality.
**
Be sure to support these artists on Bandcamp, and stay safe out there in this wild world. I hope you had a great August. Enjoy the tunes!
-Nick
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