The Happy Casualties’ 100 Stabs at the Great American Novel Turns Garage Pop into Psychedelic Sanctuary

The Happy Casualties took their reputation for eclectic experimentation to new heights with 100 Stabs at the Great American Novel, the nostalgia-soaked highlight from their tenth studio album, Welcome to the Dreamhouse. They’ve always had a habit of hopping genres, but here, they lock into a euphoric frequency that leaves the digital dystopia of the 21st century behind and reanimates the exuberance of 60s and 70s pop. It’s a sonic time capsule that gives listeners a woozy technicolour refuge when the modern day feels too sharp-edged to stomach. The single layers kitschy psychedelia over harmonies that are as sweet and warped as candyfloss under strobe lights. The zany magnetism of Frank Zappa courses through its veins, while the shimmering choruses feel like a slightly tipsy Beach Boys locked in a garage studio at 3am. It’s messy in all the ways you’d hope for, yet clever enough to double as a sly cultural critique that digs into the state of modern creativity without losing its charm. Formed in Venice, California in 2006, The Happy Casualties have never shied away from bold sonic experiments, and Welcome to the Dreamhouse might be their most audacious project yet. 100 Stabs at the Great American […]

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