Young Prisms – Friends For Now (2011) [Kanine] // Grade: C-

I don’t think anybody was ever surprised by the impact that the Jesus and Mary Chain had on music.  When “Never Understand” dropped and was shortly followed by “Just Like Honey,” critics and fans seemed to know that this blown out version of Roy Orbison paired with Beach Boys swag was going to be more than the next big thing.  It was bound to be a huge building block in the future of rock and roll. Since then the psych movement has gone through various stages and trends. From the delicate and dark strains of shoegaze to the almost incomprehensible white noise of the new French movement, fuzz and pop melodies have always been in the forefront.

San Francisco’s Young Prisms seem to bring it all back to the beginning.  This is Psychocandy phan music at its phinest. Jim Reid vocals and William Reid leads.    The only problem lies in the fact that it seems almost too safe a gamble. Everyone loves the J&MC, don’t they? By bringing absolutely nothing new to the table, Young Prisms hedges the safest of bets. It’s good pop music, covered in reverb and pedal effects, but it just doesn’t hit hard like some of the newer experiments in psych noise terror. Friends for Now ultimately fall flat, perhaps by being too good at what it does.

- Nattymari