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Custard Flux — Enter Xenon
(Bandcamp no#, 2025, CD / LP / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2025-06-30

Enter Xenon Cover art

With every Custard Flux album, Gregory Curvey continues to hone his band’s sound. Enter Xenon presents a superbly melodic cross between psychedelic and progressive rock, with ten tracks full of catchy riffs, trippy effects, and odd metric twists. The lineup remains intact from Einsteinium Delirium, with Curvey (guitar, synthesizers, Mellotron, tape loops), Vito Greco (guitar), Timothy Prettyman (bass), Nick Pruett (drums, percussion), and Andy Thompson (Mellotron) delivering performances ranging from floating spaced-out improvs to bouncy sunshine pop tunes. Whether they’re playing in four or five or seven or whatever, everything bops along energetically, full of imaginative twists and melodic turns. Enter Xenon is fully on a par with The Dukes of Stratosphear, which is about the highest praise I can give for post-60s psychedelic rock. The combination of twanging guitar, driving drums, and Mellotron hits a sweet spot that’s hard to beat. Add in the warped guitar solos, which don’t even rely overmuch on effects, and it’s a truly winning formula. Every one of the nine songs is a gem, and even the brief introductory soundscape is interesting. With one exception (the twelve-minute “The Floating Chamber”) the songs are concise and packed with ideas, and the use of synthesizers only serves to enhance the psychedelic feel rather than sounding anachronistic. Speaking of “The Floating Chamber”... It starts with a catchy riff in 7, then runs through some really odd rhythmic changes, all without losing the drive. About five minutes in, the rhythm section drops out and moody guitar arpeggios back tapes of old voices. They skillfully build intensity with a slow riff, multiple guitar parts (slide and otherwise), and twittery synthesizers. Yes, we are in a consciousness alteration zone. All fans of psychedelic rock should be making their way to Custard Flux’s bandwagon and jumping on enthusiastically.

Filed under: New releases, 2025 releases

Related artist(s): Custard Flux (Gregory Curvey)

More info
http://custardflux.bandcamp.com/album/enter-xenon

 

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