Lee Adcock
Not gonna lie—if you peeped the title of Low Valley Hearts’ first album, you’d be excused for saying “pffffft.” Pictures of Your Mind? Who writes outdated LSD trips like that anymore, you might ask yourself (answer: War on Drugs). But this motley crew of modern-day mystics isn’t just staring off into space with Marshall stacks behind them, oh no. With two synth specialists on one side, and half of post-punk veterans Small Reactions on the other, Low Valley Hearts have staked out a curiously anachronistic spot on the mountain, one that owes more to murky new wave and pointed college rock than any prog rock cult. At the same time, though, Pictures aims deliberately to expand your horizons, to consider how external systems like the cosmos relate to your internal topography. Or, something like that. And that’s the kicker to Low Valley Hearts: yeah, they’re kind of a psych outfit, but not the sort to pass round the peace joint and preach in heart-on-sleeve diatribes.
Indeed, the allure of Pictures stems from its peculiarly distanced surrealism. The toothy analog synths evoke the darker dawn of synthpop’s first big stars—“Lunar Serenity,” in particular, harkens back to when Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark still fancied themselves as Kraftwerk auteurs. But none of that thinly veiled Cold War paranoia seeps into Low Valley Hearts; rather, songs tend to swing out into wide-shot pastoral scenes that suggest a universal point-of-view. The mystic hymnal of “Broken Walls” sweeps across history with its monolithic chant against feudalism; “Taking Us Down” comments on the forces that isolate us in society with the organ-driven gravity of Procul Harum. “Knights of Pentacles” even directly references prog’s most prolific naturalists, the Moody Blues—but the quote there, “knights have lost their white satin,” distances them from that idyllic daydream fantasy, too.
And that’s exactly what makes Pictures so refreshing: though Low Valley Hearts unabashedly anchor themselves in a psychedelic past, their bifurcated lineage checks them from veering into the absurd. Despite all the vague portraits of courtship in “Fast Sky,” for instance, the casual Stereolab rhythm makes falling clouds seem like reassuring constants in yr everyday routine. Likewise, the jangling riffs of “Lulu” ground the song’s enigmatic subject in a more earthly setting, as if everyone knows a vagabond with chronic amnesia.
So, if you’re expecting some rambling acid trip throwback, prepare for a let-down. Pictures of Your Mind offers a distinctly straight-edged alternative to the bug-eyed mysticism of the past, thanks to its pop-length tunes and clever mix of college radio mentality with analog shadow. And while that consistent brevity kinda limits the gang’s songwriting scope, that’s a-OK; the storied talents from each member of Low Valley Hearts lend to an adventure way more prismatic than most so-called psych outfits’ debuts. Forget the shrooms, dude—just point your earthbound eyes toward the stars and see what shapes emerge.
Low Valley Hearts will celebrate the release of Pictures of Your Mind on Sat. Mar. 3 at 529 alongside Deep State, Giving Up, and Curt Castle. Doors open at 9 p.m. Admission is $7. 21+ to enter.
More Info
Bandcamp: lowvalleyhearts.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @lowvalleyhearts
Instagram: @lowvalleyhearts
SoundCloud: @lowvalleyhearts