An Error Has Occurred by The Janitors

The word psychedelia evokes a willingness to go with the flow, a desire to transcend desire, a tendency towards accepting problems that extend beyond the individual. However, the new album An Error Has Occurred by psych rock mainstays The Janitors takes us on a bad trip that violates all of these expectations, unflinchingly staring down evil head-on, despite the discomfort that follows. Early tracks on the album drip with anger, channeling punk rock aggression through sharply distorted vocals, dark guitar chords, and a psychedelic, cycling song structure that brings the same chants back with even deeper passion every time. Later, however, the album opens into vast sonic expanses of cascading drones, each guitar chord spilling over the last to create a slow-rolling yet massively destructive emotional tidal wave. Once our eyes open to the evil flame at the center of our world, we have no choice but to continue looking, unleashing endless cycles of pain, never reaching acceptance as capital explores deeper levels of depravity.