The Last Mixed Tape reviews Dublin based neo-psychedelic outfit This Other Kingdom debut album Telescopic.
Bounding in with the crunching percussive drive of ‘The Day, Your Day’, the intense pounding feel shown This Other Kingdom’s recent live shows is fully captured in the studio.
With songs like the dark fuzz-laden ‘Enthral’ and the post grunge brooding of ‘Vacate the Horror’ This Other Kingdom play with their natural dynamism. Jumping from screeches of guitar to booming persistent bass to large-scale heavy flourishes of drum patterns, Telescopic jolts and moves to the tense, aggressive undercurrent found in the band’s music.
However, it is the vocal that takes centre stage throughout Telescopic. Powerfully dominating the overall sound of the record (but best seen in the howling ‘Plasticine Dream’) with a deep bodied performance This Other Kingdom move from Jim Morrison dramatics to Ian Curtis-eque isolated aggression in the blink of an eye.
Propellent and distorting, Telescopic merges the indie-rock and psychedelic genres well. Sounding accomplished, the album bestrides and harnesses This Other Kingdom’s live sound to great effect, but with the depth and atmosphere alluded to throughout the record it does feel like more could have been made with the band’s distinct take on the aforementioned genres.
Telescopic works as a confident, foundation laying debut from This Other Kingdom. Flickering with real promise the album is only held back by the production’s lack of ambition. This point, coupled with the fact it’s the group’s first record, means that the group could very well deliver something very special in the future.
Rating: 8/10
Telescopic by This Other Kingdom is due for release April 11th.
The Last Mixed Tape 
5 responses to “This Other Kingdom – Telescopic”
[…] This Other Kingdom will play the monthly live music event in support of their recently released debut album Telescopic, which was a very impressive display of the group’s powerful neo-psychedelic sound (read full TLMT review here). […]
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[…] album Telescopic was met with both critical acclaim (including from TLMT – see full review here) and commercial success with the record reaching the Top 10 in the iTunes and Irish […]
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[…] Kingdom, the group released their debut L.P. Telescopic (read TLMT’s full review – here) to critical acclaim and are now already eyeing up album number two. With the announcement that […]
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[…] 15. This Other Kingdom – Telescopic There can be no doubting the propellant way in which This Other Kingdom temper their psych-rock sound. Telescopic is a visceral snapshot of the band’s instantly impactful live sound and worked to introduce a group who are on the cusp of something very exciting. Key Track: ‘Vacate the Horror’ […]
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[…] 12. This Other Kingdom – Telescopic What TLMT had to say: “Telescopic works as a confident, foundation laying debut from This Other Kingdom. Flickering with real promise the album is only held back by the production’s lack of ambition. This point, coupled with the fact it’s the group’s first record, means that the group could very well deliver something very special in the future.” […]
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