Stoned guitars, cowboy hats and a Californian heritage – three ingredients that add to the psychedelic soup of the Allah Las. Now on their third effort since releasing their debut in 2012 and sophomore in 2014, the group have long remained in cult circles – playing early on festival bills, generally skimming the same venue circuits year upon year and never really moving too far from the periphery. In the run-up to releasing Calico Review, they seem to have edged closer to a larger presence than they were previously accustomed too. Singles such as ‘Could Be You’ and ‘Famous Phone Finger’ preceded the album and garnered wider support due to a slightly more progressive sound that rather than wash over you with a Venice Beach breeze, engaged with you more. Is there a new pop imagination breaking into the fray for the Allah Las, something with a focus?

‘Strange Heat’ certainly plays on the group’s jangle-pop cornerstone that moves with elasticity. The guitars are rubbery with how they twang and trampoline you up and down – they bounce off of one another but it leaves you feeling slightly empty. It’s not a particularly interesting song no matter how many times you listen to it, it never quite grips you. The second track in, ‘Satisfied’ edges much closer to the mark than the opener does, it carries a hook in the melody and breaks from the guff of lethargy leading for a refreshing step in a new direction.

As mentioned earlier, ‘Could Be You’ was one of the first airs of LP3 that we heard and rightly so, it carries a real drive in the rhythm – something that the opening couple of tracks struggled with. It has whiffs of satiric arrogance in the swagger and lyricism: “Did you have to ask yourself whilst sitting in the bar / If you thought the world was gonna take you very far,” – musically, it could easily be credited to Jagger and co fitting right in place with the likes of ‘Get Off My Cloud’. Musical regressions are nothing new nowadays though – let’s not pretend to be surprised.

‘Roadside Memorial’ digs a little harder when it tries to find its purpose, once again this is because of the rhythm section that stipulates a quicker tempo. The guitar merely prances about though, never getting a grip of itself and falling harder into lethargy.

‘Autumn Dawn’ feels slightly like a Magical Mystery Tour clipping; this song perhaps finds Allah Las at their most interesting and poignant on the album. Guitars finally find themselves somewhat within the sweat of the desert and the tension they cling to locates a little vigour and purpose in their sound. The hazy psychedelic mark set here certainly divides the album for the group as ‘Famous Phone Figure’, ‘Warmed Kippers’ and ‘A Place In The Sun’ take similar notes and looks to propel you into a different mindset. The group manage to evade the cesspit of knock-off psychedelia through a quality in production that gives their music a timeless feel. It’s unapologetic 60s psych but it doesn’t feel tacky and it doesn’t feel malnourished as the songs boast comforting soundscapes that feel as warm as the Californian sun the group try to omit.

The only issue with much of Calico Review – and it is not against the music persé – is how it just slips by you. There is nothing really engaging, no moment where you really feel grieved, engaged or berated. Much of it acts like a scentless fart in the wind – nothing irritating about it but it never really feels like it serves any purpose. ‘High and Dry’ adds to this landfill of stoned garage-rock; the hook is blunt and the title of the song feels an apt metaphor for much of the album in terms of how it leaves you. ‘Mausoleum’ is an irrelevant track on the album, it slows the tempo down causing a mid-album lull and it feels somewhat as if the group are playing snooker with a rope.

Ultimately, Calico Review is a little too inoffensive, it is nice music to listen to but as we were all taught many times over the years, nice people always finish last and unfortunately, the music does similar. The tracks don’t jump out at you, there’s never much of a hook, an ear worm or a reason to revisit the album. Where the group seem to fall down amongst contemporaries such as The Growlers, The Strange Boys and Foxygen is within the melody – they lack any immediacy. You get the sense that there is nothing the group really want to say or make a point about and in doing that, it’s all a little too whimsical as it rambles on.
Tom Churchill

Website: allah-las.com
Facebook: facebook.com/allahlasmusic
Twitter: twitter.com/AllahLas