Stoned: A Psych Tribute To The Rolling Stones

1) What a Shame - Lorelle Meets The Obsolete 2) Sympathy For The Devil - The KVB 3) Under My Thumb - Shiny Darkly 4) Sway - Yeti Lane 5) It's Only Rock & Roll (But I Like It) - Clinic 6) Gimmie Shelter - Sons of Hippies 7) She Smiled Sweetly - The Vacant Lots 8) Child of the Moon - Celestial Bums 9) Take It or Leave It - Tashaki Mijaki 10) Stoned - Allah-Lahs 11) Satisfaction - Pink Velvet 12) Beast Of Burden - Pure X 13) As Tears Go By - Cheval Sombre 14) Wild Horses - The Tulips


Mmmm, The Rolling Stones. Not a while ago, there was a point in my life where I thought this group was the most overrated rock band in existence. As of recently, I have started to get into them, and I've realized that The Rolling Stones were more than just a generic hard rock band. They tackled many different styles, were willing to experiment and expand their sound, and overall were extremely versatile in more genres than you would believe. Nevertheless, when they played rock music, they played it with soul and grit, and no one rocked out better then they did.

So, here's this tribute album, which features a large amount of indie artists giving psychedelic treatments to songs by the Stones, resulting in an overall sound that is similar to the music of Tame Impala and Warpaint. Does this all work out? Let's fine out!


What A Shame - Lorelle Meets The Obsoleteor

Ah, I have not heard this song, so I don't know how it compares to the original, but I do enjoy this cover. It plays like a standard upbeat R&B tune, except layered with phased guitars and special effects. You would think this would result in a mess, but it all comes out pretty coherent, listenable, and tight. Nice job! 8/10

Sympathy For The Devil - The KVB

This classic is given a different spin, as the Latin-esque feel of the original is replaced with a style that reminisces Jesus and The Mary Chain. The vocals are shoved way back in the mix, with airy feedback laced guitars being placed in the front, which makes it sound as though the group is playing this in a large empty cathedral. It's not a serious improvement over the original, but it's fairly good. 7/10

Under My Thumb - Shiny Darkly

This is basically done in the same way as the last track, but I like this better, because while I enjoyed the other track, this one seems to sound better in thi style, and the group stays true enough to the original for the piece to sound incredibly catchy. A light 8/10

Sway - Yeti Lane

At first I didn't like this Stone's track very much, but now the piece has grown on me quite a bit, and so has this cover. Basically, the production is again almost identical to the last two tracks, except there seems to be a lot more emphasis on synthesizers in this case. Not sure what else to add, but I'll give it a high 6/10.

It's Only Rock And Roll - Clinic

I'm quite a big fan of Clinic, so I had set my expectations far too high before I heard this track. On my initial listen of this album, I hated this so much that I was actually going to give it a 0/10. However, I realized that, really, no one is taking this tribute album THAT seriously (other than me), so why should Clinic? They are clearly just having good clean fun. Basically, everything about the original song is changed. EVERYTHING. Gone are any traces of "rock n' roll" in the song, as the instrumentation is replaced with a drum machine, some synthesizers, and...yeah that's it. The lead vocalist, drenched in reverb, doesn't actually sing any the verses, just the chorus, which he doesn't so much sing but rather whimpers through it. Then, in the bridge of the song, he suddenly just says, for no reason in particular, "I'm a 45 year old man trapped inside the body of a 45 year old man, and I like it". In the end, Clinic's cover ends up sounding more like bizarre circus tune than anything actually reminiscing rock and roll, and while it's not good at all, it's so intentionally bad that I can't help but find this absolutely hilarious. So even though I'm giving this a 3/10, please do yourself a favor and listen to this at least once, because it should probably give you a good laugh. 

Gimmie Shelter - Sons Of Hippies

Hey this is a solid cover! Unlike much of the other tunes on here, this cover is very straightforward and polished, the trippiness of the sound being more subdued and less obvious than before. No way in hell does it even compete to the original, but overall, I would say this is a good cover! 7/10

She Smiled Sweetly - The Vacant Lots

I don't think I've heard the original of this song, but can't say I like this too much. The lead vocalist just sounds robotic and unemotional, reminding me more of the lead singer of Kraftwerk than Mick Jagger, and as far as it's musical texture goes, it's just more of the same, with there being a drum machine and some guitars and some synths and a lot of reverb. I like the beat of the song, and it still sounds catchy despite all this, but overall this doesn't impress me very much. 4/10

Child Of The Moon - Celestial Bums

Here we go, a song from the Stones psychedelic era! This is a great cover! Much like everything else here, there are layers of guitars, the lead singers voice is pushed back, and everything is soaked in reverb. However, they took what was once a three minute pop song and expanded it into a five and a half minute shoegaze epic. This is very well arranged, having a very gothic sound sound to it. A strong 9/10

Take It Or Leave It - Tashaski Miyaki

I like this cover because I really like the melody to this song, although not sure how to describe tit without repeating myself. It's soaked with reverb, there's lotsa guitars mixed in, and there some effects here and there...but the song has a great melody, the retro-psychedelic vibe seems to fit in very well. Not spectacular but adequate none the less. 6/10

Stoned - Allah-Lahs

This is different, but it still seems to fit in pretty well nonetheless. It has a more early 60s surf rock vibe going than a psychedelic vibe, but it's pretty fun, though not anything special. 5/10

Satisfaction - Pink Velvet

I'm going to go honest here, I try my hardest in my reviews to specifically explain why I like or dislike something, but this is a case where I am honestly stumped. Maybe, I think my issue with this piece is that sounds too sluggish, and, redone as a Motown-soul number, nothing seems to gel well together. Hmmm...I don't quite know, but I'm going to give it a 5/10 either way, because there's nothing truly bad about it.

Beast Of Burden - Pure X

This one is strange, but I like it. It contains a drum machine, layers of synths sounds, a whispering sound, and a falsetto voice singing the lead that I can't tell whether is or male or female. Overall, I find myself engaged by soundscape this piece builds, and while a lot of does seem pointless, they were probably just having fun and not trying to make a serious statement. So while not great, it's pretty fun. Probably not worth more than one or two listens though. a strong 5/10

As Tears Go By - Cheval Sombre

This one is too dreary for me enjoy. Unlike everyone else on here, this one is acoustic, with special effects being spiced in it. However, they phasers sound, with some of the effects almost sounding like tear drops. However, I don't feel anything out of the effects, and to me, they just don't fit into the piece.  So while it's not horrible, my feelings towards this piece unfortunately drift toward a 4/10. I do kinda wish I could rate it higher, since I get they are trying to create a gloomy atmosphere.

Wild Horse - The Tulips 

Saving the best for last, I see. Now this cover is different from anything else on here. It still fits in, but it's not over drenched in phased guitars or synthesizers, nor is in engrossed in special effects. Instead, there seems to be much more of a sad, but ethereal, indie/alternative rock vibe. The lead singer emotes the lyrics in a beautiful, mournful way, and as for the texture, there is a very moody, but upbeat, sound to it. Jonathan Moss describes it as sounding "Kind of like shoegaze but without the off the walls sound", and I couldn't agree more. I try not to hand out 10/10 too often, but I think this one deserves it. Not only does it do justice to the original, it manages to basically create a whole new masterwork of out of it.  What a great way to finish off this album.

Overall, while this certainly is not an amazing album, it's still pretty enjoyable. I do like how, rather than going for the easy route and just covering all the songs from their psychedelic era, most of the artists on here decided to branch and arrange songs from their 1963-1965 and 1968-1978 period. Overall, I would say that they were moderately successful, in that most of the artists stilll manged to preserve the greatness of the Stones even when they give their songs such different arrangments. Fans of The Rolling Stones may not enjoy this, but for fans who love indie and/or psychedelic rock, this is highly recommend, whether or not you are a Stones fan.