Spectreview: Kalbells – Max Heart

Released: March 26, 2021

Psych Pop
(Indie Pop)

-DARK ORANGE-

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Kalbells’ Max Heart, for just a moment, is like any other lucid psych pop record. “Red Marker” finds lead writer Kalmia Traver (formally of Rubblebucket) initially alone at the keyboard, drawing up lysergic fantasies as the world crumbles around. Then the vocals double, harmonies bloom, and lead melodies bubble to the surface; by the time “Flute Windows Open In The Rain” adds a drum pattern and a low synth groove, the record’s become something else: an escape that functions as a chrysalis, complete with sax solos, multiple languages and a passed microphone.

The NY-based four piece have something here, something that transcends the typical quagmire of fluffy imagery and stuffy technicality that often accompanies psychedelic music. Though these are primarily Traver’s songs, the band sounds collectively locked into her rhythm, the joy of their performances palpable. That results in an album with virtually no dead spots (save perhaps for the initially-slight “Poppy Tree,” and even then its late-stage ascendance picks up the slack) and a load of twisting surprises, including the ecstatic “Hump The Beach” and the funky “Purplepink,” which features a sawtoothed guitar solo courtesy of the SNL Band’s Maddie Rice.

While the whole band shows off in their individual capacity (Angelica Bess’s vocals shine in particular), it can’t be overstated how talented Traver comes across. The numerous sax solos splayed across the record? Her. The spaciousness of the record’s mixing? Also entirely her. Traver’s lyrics, meanwhile, beautifully run the gamut of mycelial silliness, from the whimsical (“Flute Windows Open In The Rain”) to the horny (“Hump The Beach”; “Pickle”) to the vividly technicolor (the fantastic “Diagram of Me Sleeping”). In Max Heart’s hurricane of musicality, she’s the eye that steers the storm front, and it results in a series of delightful songs that undoubtedly earn their replays.

Recommended for smooth legs under warm covers.