Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - Night Gnomes

Psychedelic Porn Crumpets say they view ‘Night Gnomes’ as the natural conclusion of the songwriting cycle they began with their 2016 debut album, ‘High Visceral (Part One)’, the “summary” of their discography to date. There are indeed lots of high points on it in terms of the band’s musicianship, with songs like ‘Lava Lamp Pisco’, ‘Bubblegum Infinity’, ‘Bob Holiday’, and ‘Acid Dent’ featuring strong riffing from Luke Parish and frontman Jack McEwan. However, the album also features filler like ‘The Creator’ and ‘In Dream Out’ which feel unfocused and unnecessarily ambient, while ‘Slinkly Holy Water’ makes for a rather underwhelming finale. Overall, the whole thing feels like a step down from the tight, laser-focused garage rock of last year’s ‘Shyga! The Sunlight Mound’ in terms of songwriting, song selection, and playing style. There are plenty of good ideas at work, the band citing artists as disparate as Black Sabbath and Lenny Kravitz as influences on it. Despite the album featuring several enjoyable moments, though, the listener is left feeling that it’s somewhat rambling and unfocused, and could possibly have benefited from the band leaving themselves more time for their ideas to gestate.