With their debut EP, Super Touchy, Strange Collective are bound to draw comparisons to acts like Ty Segall and the Black Lips, as well as other artists such as King Khan & The Shrines and King Tuff. With their fuzzed out, pedal-based guitars roaring and their bizarre lyrics and vocal arrangements, the band seems poised to join the mélange of garage punk acts that have blossomed during this revival of DIY rock. Songs like the title track and “Frog Eye” dabble in the wacky and peculiar, while lead vocalist/guitarist Alex Wynne adds his own touch of madness. It’s all rather chaotic and messy, especially on the concluding track “Wasted,” but only in the way garage punk should be. “Heavy,” on the other hand, starts out slow and wistful, and then gradually builds to frenzied bedlam. This song is the highlight of the EP, and the slow progression into anarchy is quite well done.
This is the type of band that would be a perfect fit at an underground psych festival like Levitation in Austin, Texas or Desert Daze in California. The band has already shared the bill with artists such as psychedelic luminaries The Ghost of a Sabre Tooth Tiger (The GOASTT), Black Lips, King Khan and The Shrines and The Warlocks. One can only hope that Strange Collective delivers the goods on their full length as well as they did here.