Given the sheer state of what the sound has become, we find ourselves in a time where there are loads of icons throughout the whole of heavy psych. The list seems to grow magnificently every year as the sound is explored by names new and old, but there is a specific kind of magic that, for the most part, only the old bastions of the sound are able to deliver. There’s something in what they bring to the table that’s hard to really put a finger on, yet we are all too happy to bask in its warmth. Having gotten their start almost twenty years ago, it’s with their newest performance that Rainbows are Free shows they still have so much to accomplish despite what they already have.

I’ve long described fine-tuned and high quality heavy psychedelia as something that can be blasted out of the garage door or loudly with the windows down with the sun dancing on your skin, and it’s an analogy that I still hold by for how much it embodies the sound in some of its finest moments. Without a shadow of a doubt, what Rainbows are Free has accomplished here has more than earned the right to be described as such. Right from the beginning, “Silver and Gold” holds nothing back as a creation that is just irresistible with its riffs, songwriting, and attitude that can only be tagged as cool to the nth degree. For the whole of these nine tracks, Rainbows are Free excels at constantly pulling you in and making damn sure that you are no less than inundated by riffs and captivation that have both been cultivated over the years to become an embodiment of stoner-born euphoria that is just an absolute joy to become lost within. “Silver and Gold” washes over you as it can effortlessly transition from being smooth and intoxicating to rough and compelling, leaving more than enough for both distinct notions to find their own places in the performance and really enable the album to become far more than a mere collection of riffs with a little bit of fuzz for some misplaced sense of pizzazz. Rather, Rainbows are Free is the real deal with this album more than cementing their long-held status as monuments of the sound not to be underestimated.

While there is always something to be said about the new blood entering the mix and showing us what they can do, there’s a litany of damn good reasons why the veterans are revered so highly. Having been around for almost decades at this point and demonstrating why they demand our respect and adoration many times over, it’s within “Silver and Gold” that Rainbows are Free gives us nothing less than a stellar performance worthy of such a reputation.

LISTEN to “Silver and Gold” on Bandcamp here.

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