Third outing for Haines & Buck – doing their bit for mind altering music.

Release Date: 25th July 2025

Label: Cherry Red Records

Format: CD / LP / digital

THE PSYCHIATRIC TRILOGY CONTINUES

The third in the ‘psychiatric trilogy’ of albums by Luke Haines (The Auteurs, The Servants, Black Box Recorder) and Peter Buck (R.E.M), their output featuring regularly on our pages – Beat Poetry For Survivalists (the title track a personal fave), All The Kids Are Super Bummed Out and of course, who could forget Haines’ own Setting The Dogs On The Post Punk Postman.

Buck and Haines and their electric guitars, 12 strings, acoustic guitars, Fuzz guitar, synth, recorder and vocals, are joined by Scott McCaughey on bass, Moog bass, Mellotron; Linda Pitmon on drums and percussion, with Morgan Fisher on piano. Together they pose questions such as ‘Have you ever been cold called by someone claiming to represent the Pink Floyd research group?( – and judging by some of my cold callers, stranger things have happened); or ‘Have you been stranded on the moon with Papa John Philips? ‘

All recorded with the minimum of fuss the focus, as per, is on the off kilter, the avant garde and often bizarre musings, given a guitar pop soundtrack, embellished with zingy candy pops and new wave jive. Most of which are encountered in the opening trio of The Pink Floyd Research Society (“so much fun“), the raw title track (“I got a foxhole, I got an asshole“) and the angular Hot Artists (“hot artist…hot artist…hot artist…etc”).

MUSICAL CURVEBALLS AS STANDARD

The knack of (a) never lingering in one place or outstaying a welcome, and (b) throwing musical curveballs and googlies as a matter of course. All is nailed by Luke Haines’ generally laconic and drawling delivery seems right at home – as it does strangely wherever he places it. Some nostalgic Sgt Pepperisms crop up – notably on Radical Bookshop with the snakey Eastern guitar fills and Children Of The Air where a fizzy drone is decorated with similar carnival sounds and strange voices.

Then there’s the stomping glam Rock in 56 Nervous Breakdowns and Judy Chicago – great opening riff that swings into one of the top lyrics that do a grand earworm job: “Judy’s from Chicago, but she’s not Judy Chicago” punchline. On more than one occasion (see Sufi Devotional) arises the feeling of almost expecting Haines to launch into “I’ve got my spine, I’ve got my orange crush.” Yet with Buck as a player in the band, adding his signature jangly guitar to the likes of In Rock and Papa John, there are going to be the continued hints at what R.E.M might have sounded like – looking like the more raw form of their early days by the sound.

THE PSYCHIATRIC TRILOGY CONCLUDES

Accompanied by a booklet/insert that avoids the lyrics and credits, instead, made up of VW camper van images with much fun to be had from interpreting the various international pricings, Haines and Buck are proving to be the Monty Python of Psychedelic tinged Alt Rock. Someone (could have been Kavus Torabi – Gong, The Utopia Strong, Cardiacs, etc) who once said that all the best music is psychedelic music. Now…where have a ll the drugs gone…?

Here’s the opening track:

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