Dead Mellotron - I Hate The Way Things Are

One of the most extraordinary records to be released during the past few years is Dead Mellotron's Ghost Light Constellation album. GLC (as we'll call it) is an eight-track romp through the very best in space rock, psychedelia and acid garage.

It's extraordinary in that - for all its brilliance, beauty and bare brutality - it's such a little-known record. This is as much down to the band's circumvention of the press (deliberate or not) as to any lack of accessibility in the mainstream music market. Interviews are few and far between and what little PR work is done seems to be delegated to that most-faithful of assistants, 'word-of-mouth'.

With their roots in Baltimore, MD, Dead Mellotron, is (live, at least) a four-piece led by guitarist, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, Josh Frazier. Frazier himself though, is widely credited as being the band and the music as very much his solo project.

Whatever the case, it's some of the finest Stateside shoegaze you're likely to hear. From the soaring blur of Shame to the synth-driven bleep and patter of Heart Flutter, it's expansive, inventive and utterly compelling.

Capping off the album, is a remarkable 4-minute instrumental entitled I Hate The Way Things Are - a stellar landscape of lazer-guided loops and growling, bass-heavy feedback. This is space rock at its very best and for that reason it's our featured track (see below).

On February 23rd  it was announced the band had signed for influential British label, Sonic Cathedral. A new album, Glitter, is scheduled for release on May 7th. In the meantime, you can discover more about  Dead Mellotron by visiting their Bandcamp page. And why not, when their back catalogue can be downloaded for as little as $3 per record?