Psychic Vampire: Sophomaniac 12"

Psychic Vampire, sophomaniac.
In your face beans and tomatoes hardcore. much like Negative Approach in approach, or GFR. Midwest potatoes at their best. Like a bean in a china shop. these vamps got diy spirit with angry attitudes. It's clear they have a sense of humor, and thats ok, but its not for me. get with it already! But jesus fuckin christ, the mascot? Gene the Bean is so dope. handsome and badass! also funny! and wise to boot! seems like this band is strictly a platform for Gene, and for me, that's perfect! 9 out of 9 effort.
-MRR

Our take: While Fuerza Bruta and Ignorantes are well-known bands, I understand not being hip to this killer 12” from Minneapolis’s Psychic Vampire. While the band had a few extremely limited previous releases, this self-released 12” is the first time I’ve heard them, and that they only pressed 100 copies tells me they’re not planning on appealing to the masses. They also promote their record with a Maximumrocknroll review that consists almost entirely of incomprehensible inside jokes. Still, that fucking killer Drügface artwork should have clued you in that something interesting was happening here. Psychic Vampire shares a member with Citric Dummies, and while Psychic Vampire is more straightforwardly hardcore than Citric Dummies, I hear a similar sort of quirkiness here (particularly during the not-infrequent interruptions of hooky lead guitar). Ultimately, Psychic Vampire lies in the space between punk and hardcore where so many interesting and under-appreciated bands live. Their drummer beats the fuck out of the kit, they’re fast as hell, and their singer’s raspy shout would have the pop-punkers cowering the corner, but their incorporation of melody and their blithe dismissal of hardcore’s musical conventions are apt to alienate that scene too. If this clicks with you, though, I imagine it’ll hit hard.