Best of 2020 Top Favorite Psych Rock Fuzz Rock
Here we are at the end of another year but before we leave the past behind us lets make sure to collect all the amazing music that dropped in 2020.
Tons of incredible bands put out at least one album this year and it was one of the best years ever for psychedelic rock music and all of its many tendrils.
This one of several best of 2020 lists as I decided to divide them up by genre. Be sure to check out all th best of lists and get caught up on great music to support.
No doubt that I miss some gems along the way even with over 170 reviews this year. 2020 was the best year yet for ThePsychRock.com I built a new website and got more emails and promos then ever before. Looking forward to 2021 and all the great music to come. Thank you to the tens of thousands of people who visit the website and be sure to support the labels and artist who make life more exciting!! : )
Thank you To Heart Of The Sun Liquids for the incredible cover image. Follow him on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/heartofthesunliquids/
Best of 2020 Top Favorite Psych Rock Fuzz Rock
This best of list has the best psychedelic garage rock, psych rock, desert rock of 2020. These bands all adhere to a rock sound with far out experimental sections, infectious riffs, and vocals. Each of these groups has their own sound and they all are amazing bands. I did not number the releases because its too hard to put them in order so I weighted my most listened to albums toward the top.
Frankie and The Witch Fingers Monsters Eating People Eating Monsters Eating People Eating
Frankie and the Witch Fingers from Los Angeles USA cannot stop releasing great albums. Their garage rock sound has incredible energy and Monster Eating People… is one of the most psychedelic offerings to date with wild fuzzy guitars and hip shaking rhythms. This band is taking this style of high energy rock to the next level.
L.A. Witch Play With Fire
LA Witch from Los Angeles has always been an awesome desert rock group with catchy edgy songs but Play With Fire sees their song writing and production evolve into something that eclipses others in the genre. Sadie Sanchez’s vocals and rhythm guitar are so great with the whole band taking their skill and artistic vision to new heights. Get grungy, get attitude and wear black leather on your desert motorcycle ride with LA Witch.
SLIFT UMMON
SLIFT UMMON from France adds the the #1 album of the year line up seriously amazing space rock, garage rock, psychedelic rock here. SLIFT is shaking the world with its incredible new album and the music is as epic as the packaging taking fuzz rock into all the places. SLIFT has it all and is with out a doubt one of the best albums of the year in psych rock.
OSees Protean Threat
Osees Protean Threat from Los Angeles, USA is incredible the weird grooves, hard hitters, punk rock psych and it even tosses in some cosmic drift to spice up the soup. The album is diverse and continuously pushes into new territory. The creativity of this band cannot be contained and I am a huge fan of all things Osees. The grooving bass lines the wild fuzz guitars, spaced out synth weirdo songs are something special.
Osees Metamorphosed
Osees Metamorphosed is a heavy release with psyched out krautrock dosed in motorik beats and CAN styled farout improvisations. This album starts out with friendly pcuk garage rockers with catchy charms. The later half ripps and does not stop to let the listener get their barings. The album comes hard and fast and then tosses the sound into the kraut rock LSD blender and warps the mind of the listener into blissful over stimulation.
Turtle Skull Monoliths
Turtle Skull Monoliths from Australia is incredible with heavy psych, stoner, dual harmony vocals, and garage rock. The lyrics are meaningful and the vocals sound great. They are from Australia and Monoliths is a break out sophomore album. They have a heavy sound but there is an openness and emotional clarity and sophistication that brings in some progressive rock and psych rock.
Death Valley Girls Under The Spell Of Joy
Death Valley Girls from Los Angeles, USA is desert rock with female power rock vibes from the 70s, 80s and 90s complete with anthemic songs. Death Valley Girls rock their history of driven punk rock attitude has matured to reveal the strong songwriters in the band. They and have created a new female led power rock sound that never becomes cliche, always rocks and even gets a little psychedelic. This feels like an album that will never go out of style.
Vibravoid Decomposition Of Noise
Vibravoid Decomposition of Noise from Germany is a farout vintage styled psychedelic rock mind bender. The layer effects and effective psychedelic vibes are undeniably cool. Vibravoid takes kraut, kosmische, psychedelic 60s pop and fuzzed out garage rock blended together. Vibravoid is a favorite here at ThePsychRock and all their albums have been great and Decomposition of Noise goes back to the song oriented sound with space rock excursions.
Population II À la Ô Terre
Population II is a French band with psyched out garage rock with a balance of instrumental and vocal tracks. Their sound is diverse and free flowing. The album features great guitar playing that draws on world music for eastern modal tone as well as moody garage rock with low biased fuzz. The album twist and turns and brings the listener along for a wild ride with a surprise around each turn.
Karkara – Nowhere Land
Karkara Nowhere Land from France ripps into the eastern tinged stoner rock. They get fairly heavy and their music is high energy and creates an atmosphere that with dark magical forces and ghoulish shadows lurking in mythical temples. They have an awesome eastern psych sound with touches of turkish music and microtonal insinuations in guitar arrangements. The vocals echo and reverb in psychedelic rock and garage style.
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Live in San Francisco ’16
King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard Live in San Francisco ’16 is a high energy recording highlighting their early career with songs from Nonagon Inifinty, I’m In Your Mind Fuzz, Quarters ect. The performance has perfect sound each instrument sounds awesome the mix is great the song selection and tight performance of the band translates beautifully to vinyl. King Gizzard is one of the best rocks out there from Australia.
The Pancakes
The Pancakes from Germany are psychedelic garage rock with forages into heavy space rock later in the disc. The album has mind blowing guitar playing with world class psych tones courtesy of Rainer Neeff from far-out Germany space rock bands Zone Six and Krautzone. The early songs are garage rock focused with 1960s style.
White Canyon and The 5th Dimension
White Canyon & The 5th Dimension’s first album is incredible coming to us from Brazil. They have a expansive sound that uses clean guitar tones, full bass lines and steady drumming. The songs blend kraut and garage rock with unconventional song structures and deep reverb and don’t worry the guitars get heavy and fuzz too!
Melody fields Broken Horse
Melody Fields Broken Horse from Sweden is 1960s styled psychedelic pop rock. The vocal harmonies are retro San Francisco summer of love style. They bring sitars and other unique instruments into the mix.
The Kundalini Genie 11:11
The Kundalini Genie 11:11 from the UK takes their psychedelic garage rock sound and toss in more expansive soundscapes with shoegaze and post rock sounds. The songs develop a rich atmosphere with drones, sitar, echoing guitars and steady driving bass.
The Vacant Lots Interzone
The Vacant Lots Interzone from East and West coasts of the USA is too cool with driving electronic beats, dancable bass lines, and attitude. The whole album is beat and synth forward with rock and fuzz guitar and vocals. The songs are gritty and warm with vintage tones and black leather attitude.
Holy Wave Interloper
Holy Wave Interlooper is synth and keyboard driven songs with effected guitars and live drums. Their sound is dreamy, indie, almost downer pop. The sound is continuously modulating shifting filtering. The vocals are laid in smoothly with coupled harmonies and simple melodies. Their sound is dense with layers of drones, guitars, filters creating wonderful atmospheres paired with great guitars and vocal melodies.
The Rose City Band Summerlong
The Rose City Band Summerlong is the latest project from Rippley Johnson of Moon Duo and Wooden Shjips for the west coast USA. This project has Johnsons great guitar stylings toned down into gentle folk rock songs that hit with emotion and layered arramgements complete with slide guitar.
Black Satori – Lucy Lane
Black Satori from Minneapolis and San Francisco USA plays psyched out garage rock with alternative and space rock infusions. Their debut album Lucy Lane features effected guitars, fuzzed out leads and echoing vocals. They are dynamic moving from mellow to cosmic meltdown.
Best of 2020 Top Favorite Psych Rock Fuzz Rock
Thank you for a great year in psych music!!!
About ThePsychRock.com
ThePsychRock.com is a place for people to find new music that is underground and out of the mainstream. All the bands share common musical lineage and have great diversity in sound but all the music is creative and comes from one of the many branches of psychedelic rock music.
2020 was a big year for the page more viewers then ever with tens of thousands of you finding new music. I received more promos then ever before and unveiled a whole new website design for better browsing.
The year end lists are always the most popular articles on the website with the exception of the home page. Don’t be afraid to click on those article titles to read the full review with videos and sound samples. Come back soon to ThePsychRock.com I have new articles and posts going up regularly.
Thank you!
Thank you so much and yes we do all need psychedelic rock acid folk music in 2021 we need more hippies in our world. Peace n love brother.
Very informative!!! Thanks my friend, can’t wait wait until the next one!!! Much love from dmtworld.net!!!