San Diego-based blues-rocker Zack Oakley unveils the music video, “Acid Rain,” lifted from his debut solo album, Badlands, releasing September 17 via Kommune Records.
Zack explains, “I am excited to share these songs with the world. The album’s title is ‘Badlands.’ The tunes contain verses and reverberations meant to transport the listener into a parallel universe that looks and sounds like current-day California, only without the sunshine and palm trees arranged in perfect variations like the cover of a million postcards and magazines. It is a collage of barefoot sand, highway speed, LSD sunshine, and ominous dusk as I see it. I want the listener to experience the sunstroke, see the beauty and feel the dread of this place where time either speeds ahead or stands dangerously still.”
A dazzling guitarist and drummer, sound engineer, and producer, Zack played the drums for the band Pharlee, which appeared at the Roadburn Festival and dropped an LP in 2019. He also toured and performed with Tee Pee Records’ Joy.
“Acid Rain” opens on psychedelic surf-rock colours atop a Blind Faith-like prog-rock melody riding rambling, rumbling percussion, loose and relaxed, giving the rhythm a visceral, organic feel. An oozing organ imbues the tune with retro ‘60s textures as dreamy, slightly reedy vocals infuse the lyrics with lysergic savours.
An impressive guitar solo, chockfull of slick intoxicating licks reminiscent of Hendrix, Todd Rundgren, and Steppenwolf’s Michael Monarch, is at once hallucinogenic and incandescent. With “Acid Rain,” Zack Oakley summons the electrifying days of psychedelic prog-rock burnished by braying organ timbres and bravura guitar riffs.
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