Dublin Garage Psych duo Unique Freaks (aka THEE U.F.O) release a brand new single entitled Becoming Me, Becoming You! on Friday, March 28th which is once again released through the bands own Gelatinous Records as a free Digital Download and will be available to stream on all the usual platforms from March 28th.
The band are currently putting the finishing touches to their follow up album to last's years Beaming A Moments Reflection which received great reviews on release as well as making many end of year accolades.
About Becoming Me, Becoming You!
"I was struggling with who I was as a person, for the past 10 years (since dropping out of school at 17). I had found myself in a cycle of working crap jobs for a few months at a time, then leaving and getting stoned for months. It made me think about all the things I had hoped for as a 17 year old, but feeling like very little has changed since then. I think that’s something we all struggle with no matter what position we are in, ‘Is this what I wanted my life to be? Is this the person I imagined myself being?’ which begs the question ‘When am I becoming me?’. I want to be able to give as much love as I get, I want Beth to be the person she imagined herself being, We all need to be the best people we can be for ourselves and our loved ones. This song is for us and everyone who wants to be the best versions of themselves" Darragh Hansard
Funkadelic - Wars Of Armordegon
An anthem for the end days! Which are dangerously close it feels. This song is a thunderous road of momentum, a precursor to modern day psych rock. Eddie Hazel’s guitar playing is killer on the whole of the ‘Maggot Brain’ album but this takes the cake for me. I’ll be riding into battle with this one!
Tom Scott and The California Dreamers - Today
A song I stumbled upon while watching a video about sampling. I had heard the sample heaps of times but never had the urge to check it out, what a fool I was. A bizarre but beautiful mash up of 60s free-love acid folk and a sax soloist. The song and album is full with wonderful harmonies, bound to make you smile any day of the week.
The Flaming Lips - See The Leaves
I found it hard to get into The Flaming Lips over the years, until one faithful evening heading out to do some christmas shopping in 2022. A shrieking guitar and stoner-ish bass peeked my attention (not to mention the insane drums). I couldn’t believe this was the same band that sang about Jelly and Pink Robots. It sent me down a deep rabbit hole maybe it you send you down one too.
CAN - Bel Air
CAN, the best band to ever exist. Bel Air is a vast landscape that ingulfs you, you’ll get nestled into the groove and thrown into the air when it changes up. Future Days is peak CAN, Damo Sukzuki left shortly after recording the album to become a Jehovah's Witness. RIP (Kenji Suzuki was dubbed DAMO by a wexford man in 1969).
The Doors - The END
As vanilla as The Doors are I’ll always love them. I never thought about writing music until I watched The Doors movie, it turned 15 year old me into a pretentious Jim Morrison wannabe, before that I was just a measly drummer. I was a fan of The Doors since I was 8 (Tony Hawk Underground 2 turned me on) but never put any stock in them until watching that movie. The End opened up a ridiculous world of improv and theatre.
Gandalf - Me About You
A band Beth turned my onto. This song was originally written for The Turtles, and frankly their version sucks. This is the art of the cover, Gandalf completely make this tune their own, in fact I didn’t know it was a cover for months. A beautiful love song. If you like these guys check out - ‘The West Coast Pop Art Experiment Band’ and ‘The United States Of America’ some real freaks.
Charli XCX - Mean Girls
Brat summer continues. Pure fun, BRAT as a whole is incredible, but I picked means girls to throw here solely because of the ‘Owner of A Lonely Heat’ type piano break wtf! Haha.
Portishead - Silence
I’ve been a fan of Portishead since I was about 16, but Third didn’t resonate with me until I was in my early 20s. Beth Gibbons is one of my favourite vocalists of all time, I often try to rip her off but I don’t think it ever comes across any good. I think this song in particular was a big inspiration for ‘More, To Love’ on the ‘Glowing Friends’ EP.
Ty Segall - Ice Plant
Ty has been a massive influence on our music as a whole so It’s hard to pick a song to sum it up, but Beth’s been on a Ty buzz lately and she reminded me of this song, oddly we’ve be channeling it on the new album without even knowing.
Ween - Baby Bitch
Ween have been a fairly recent development for me. Chocolate and Cheese is great, and I think if we can learn one thing from Ween it’s to JUST HAVE FUN. Baby Bitch is pretty sad but also hilarious.