Opium Eyes of Nico -Dronecaine (2015)

Reading newsstand copies of Rolling Stone magazine during my adolescent years was really my only outlet for mainstream music news back in those days. There was no Vinyl Writers, internet or MTV. Music news were rare and exciting, and I would immediately flip to the back pages for the news and reviews section. This is where I got my first glimpse into the music that would become so important to me; Rock, Punk, Blues, Reggae, Metal and that often talked about sub-category called Psychedelic.

The term itself sounded like an explosion of freaky guitars and voodoo vocals overflowing with wild rhythms and beats. That was the sound that I heard in my head anyway – an unholy mix of the MC5, Black Sabbath and Free Jazz. This was the music I was hungry to hear.

Now… imagine how I felt watching the Jefferson Airplane perform on a late night music show about two months later. Can you see the look on my face? Who were these boring bastards!? This is Psychedelic? I was watching a group of illiterate hippies lumber through a practice session. I felt betrayed and my young heart sank.

Fortunately, I soon discovered that other musicians were articulating the “psychedelic” sounds I craved; The Velvet Underground, Krautrock, Space Rock, Shoegaze and eventually Drone-bands like Spacemen 3. These are the musicians that put into practice the magnificent rush of sound and volume playing in my head.

Those are the characteristics carried forward today by the amazing Russian duo, Opium Eyes of Nico. Their 2015 release, Dronecaine got newly pressed on vinyl for the first time.

Dronecaine is that rare mix of heavy psych/garage guitars and hypnotic eastern instrumentation that just seems to fit together well. Opium Eyes of Nico create an astonishingly friendly and beautiful world of hypnotic trance music that invites the listener into their electro-current vibe. Once you catch that wave, those backward guitars take your mind to another place. An otherworldliness that is completely unique and almost impossible to achieve. Only the music of the Cocteau Twins has ever so completely engulfed my perspective.

Expect such transformations once you give yourself over to this powerful record. This is a record were even the familiar sounds new, and the new challenges our perspective. What makes Dronecaine so unconventional are the bits and pieces of psychedelic music’s past which it uses as rocket fuel for their very own silver machine. For example, the Beatles’ Tomorrow Never Knows is so over-baked at this point, that we never need to hear it again. But its cover here transcends. The duo uses the basic motif of the track as a familiar platform, then uses that music to explore deeper and deeper into the warm cosmic experience.

The band also knows that sometimes less really is more. The sitar is weaving textures throughout the album, but doesn’t overwhelm the experience. The music is allowed to have space between the instruments so that the colorful textures can grow with their repetition. This is music that can move between the contemplative and harmonic to a heavy pulsating and penetrating drive within one track. Along the way, you always feel a satisfying and warm buzz that makes you want to start the album over and over and over.

As you would expect, the music here emphasizes atmosphere over tunefulness, but don’t let that discourage your involvement. Dronecaine is never a head-crusher. Leaning much closer to the melodic end of the spectrum while still managing to be fascinating to behold. Opium Eyes of Nico is more than just another mediocre Bandcamp release. This Russian group adds an important chapter into the development of experimental psychedelic drone.

by Shawn Ciavattone