“Introducing Population II-blazing through the stratosphere, boiling up from beneath the sea, hanging in the air like smoke… These elemental tunes drift and fluctuate, at one with the air, over extreme heat. Population II has beamed out of Quebec with a mind-melting debut [À La Ô Terre] of hard psych, freckled with punk sentiment. Both old school and timeless, these young humans rip. They are impressive in their live actions and this album captures this raw energy on wax. Produced by Manu from the great band Chocolat, a very high bar has been set, indeed. Fluid, tough, and over-saturated, this album is bound to please fans of the label and new-comers alike. Reminiscent of Amon Düül, early Pink Floyd, Kollektiv, Laurence Vanay, Les Olivensteins, early Kraftwerk, even a touch of the Kinks.”
Mind-bending, metamorphic psych that starts out in a spacey drone, slowly growing into heavy, fuzzy, free-form guitar on the outstanding first track. The sweeping second track gets off with more space-fazed guitar, slowing down for some chill psychedelia, then building back into heavier, stonier guitar exploration. Excellent improvisational heavy psych built on expanding rhythms and switching tempos. Big thumbs up!