The Pop Corporation

You might know Richard Olson from his stints in The See See and the magic, cosmic country outfit The Hanging Stars – but this time, he’s doing something new with The Familiars.

Of course, Olson’s music tends to float toward the psychedelic and we’re happy to report that this LP is no different. In even better news, this might be his strongest work to date, and that’s saying something.

With this self titled long player, there’s a lot of reference points that are incredibly satisfying and just right from the beginnings of Spring. On first listen, there’s Kevin Ayers, Bryter Layter era Nick, popsike, California sunshine pop, The Electric Prunes, Postcard Records, The Left Banke, ’60s pop, and all that good good heady stuff. There’s even some country and dub in the mix too.

While his work with The Hanging Stars focused on Cosmic Americana (which has deservedly got high praise), there’s something about this LP that we’ve been waiting for. Sweet melodies – especially with the irresistible and utterly wonderful ‘Fall Into My Hands’ – are in high supply. The joyful psychedelia vibe continues with tracks like ‘Little Heart’ and ‘I’m A Butterfly’, but there’s light and shade, lowering the heart-rate with mellower, dusky numbers like ‘A Thousand Violins’ and ‘Rain’.

Dappled strings, coastal tremelo and brass back up woozy harmonies and far-away melodies – it’s wonderful from top to bottom. That said, it’s not such a huge departure that fans of his previous work won’t love this – they clearly will – rather than reinventing his own wheel, ‘The Familiars’ instead shows the breadth of the kaleidoscopic world Richard Olson.

On ‘Inside Sunshine’, there’s a swirling sun-bleached psych that you find in the more wide-eyed moments of, say, a Boards of Canada LP, but cut with the feeling of listening to some wildly obscure raga-rock cut that just got reissued, leaving you furious it wasn’t a hit back in ’68. With that, this is an album that absolutely deserves your time and support right now. There’s no point hoarding great music to yourself is there?

And 2023 seems to be having yet another psychedelic rock renaissance, maybe as we finally get enough clearance from being stuck in quarantine with our Zoom hangouts and reliances on technology – there’s a sense of getting outside and touching some grass and feeling the breeze on our faces, and with Richard Olson & The Familiars, it captures the mood perfectly.

Don’t let the LP end up getting slept on – it’s a beautiful and optimistic thing, and who doesn’t need a good dose of that?