While I’ve always been an advocate for psychedelia taken to the very lengths of what it can become in the right hands, there is never anything route with taking a lighter approach to the sound that offers something more in ways of diversity or a simply relaxing listen that doesn’t challenge our senses. A straightforward listen that takes you through simple rhythms and borrows a good bit from different styles can make for a sound that feels dynamic and organic in a way that can be downright infectious, and that’s something Apewards has excelled at for years now. The current path that this band finds themselves on was laid forth just a few years ago with the first volume of “Peaks”, and it’s now with their second that it’s continued down in delicious fashion.

Whenever I tend to think of works that find themselves in any form of the psychedelic plane of existence, my brain always immediately goes towards bands like King Buffalo, Black Space Riders, My Sleeping Karma, and such acts who really embody what the concept can really be when it’s taken to the maximum, but there is something alluring about a band that pulls back in order to take heavier cues from other sounds in order to create something that a band can certifiably call their own. There are but four tracks to be heard in “Peaks Vol. II”, but it’s in no way that Apewards squandered this opportunity to further their sound as it’s with a calculated and cool blend of stoner and blues influences on top of that already well-done psychedelia that the trio sought to shake things up a little bit while still remaining true to their core sound. The result is a sound that really does feel like the natural progression of what Apewards has been bringing forth all these years with the vocals, strings, and drums all coming together as a cohesive unit to provide us with a sound that is certainly on the fringes of what happens before you truly delve into the capabilities of each of these styles, but in no way does “Peaks Vol. II” miss out on some of the most alluring aspects of them all.

There’s nothing crazy or ridiculous happening in this album with the core of the performance simply a trio of musicians coming together to play something that they can all enjoy with the themes of growth, reflection, and coming to terms with all that’s happened, and there couldn’t ever be a single thing wrong with that given the level of execution at play here. “Peaks Vol. II” never once tries to be more than what it was ever designed to be, and it’s every step along the way that Apewards manages to deliver a performance that embodies all that the band is and ever can be with the end-result nothing that should be looked down on.

LISTEN to “Peaks Vol. II” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Apewards on Facebook here.