Boston-based psychedelic project Crash Cadet (the solo project of Josh Rathbun) has released a sophomore album, aptly titled Crash Cadet II. The album is being championed by the single “Tree Climber.” The three-and-a-half-minute single is a delightfully psychedelic romp that’s as sunny as it is hectic, featuring undulating volume changes and some subtle shifts in tempo, never letting itself get too comfortable in any one skin. While some of the album’s tracks are focused on a softer, dreamier acoustic approach, “Tree Climber” plugs into the same fuzzy garage niche that produced Ty Segall. 

Although the song has strong garage-rock vibes, it occupies a reliable psychedelic well of fuzzy guitars and looping rhythms that has permeated indie rock radio for a few years now. “Tree Climber” takes the sunny, guitar crunchiness of early Tame Impala and blends it with the jovial bagginess of Spoon. It’s loud and loose without ever slipping into chaos, a controlled burst of bedlam that is as fun to listen to as it sounds like it was to make. The song opens with upbeat drums and thunderous guitar, but the swaggering opening line of “I was on the other side and now I know there isn’t any other side” gives the song an immediate psych cred, sung rapidly through a dreamy vocal effect. The full combination sets an unsteady, fun ambiance that is maintained throughout the song’s wandering rises and falls.

“Tree Climber” is the first taste of Crash Cadet II, a delightful mix of acoustic ballads and gutsy garage-rock, all with a psychedelic tinge. Rathbun recorded and produced the whole album himself, thirteen tracks where he flexes on us by including Charango, Cuica, and Banjo. Once the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, Crash Cadet will be playing a proper album release show, with Rathbun on vocals and guitar, Neil Bomberger on Bass, Tuan Treu on lead guitar, and Canozan Tan on drums. In the meantime, the album is out now and is available on bandcamp and on streaming sites. The music video for “Tree Climber,” which takes the viewer into Rathbun’s home studio to see the production in action (alongside an adorably lazy dog), is available here.