Portsmouth Psych Fest is rapidly approaching, with a whole host of incredible psychedelic artists across three of the best venues in Portsmouth, we showcase five of our favourite artists from this years’ line-up to make sure you get the most out of one of the biggest annual events in Pompey.

Melt Dunes

Portsmouth psych heroes Melt Dunes are also one of our top Pompey picks, so it’s no surprise that they’re first on our list to catch at this years’ Portsmouth Psych Fest. Signed to Strong Island Recordings, Melt Dunes have been carving out their own technicolour niche in the UK psych/noise scene since 2015.

Armed with a solid repertoire of tunes that sound like they’ve been dragged backwards through a rainbow swamp; material stuffed to the brim with blistering solos, cosmic riffs and spaced out synths - this psychedelic four-piece straight out of Pompey stand firmly on their own ground, holding their own next to giants such as King Gizzard and The Growlers without ever stepping on their toes.

Flamingods

2017 was a huge year for Flamingods, with the release of their latest EP Kewali and a hectic tour schedule which included a slot at the legendary SXSW festival, there isn’t a chance in hell they’d be slowing down for 2018. Describing their sound as ‘Exotic Psychadelia’, they marry influences from across a broad spectrum of cultures and genres to create a potent blend of east-meets-west psych-rock that sounds like nothing you’ve heard before. The band hails from both London and Bahrain, so expect those gratuitous lashings of psychedelia, jazz and indie to be laced with a distinct middle-eastern flavour.

Check out the fantastic ‘Anya’ by Flamingods:

Creatures

Picture a band dreamt up by Wes Anderson. A band of 70s looking cowboys straight out of Westworld armed with psychedelic guitar riffs and all the hair. Enter Creatures, a band playing fuzzy, psychedelic songs that could just as easily sit on a Quentin Tarantino soundtrack as they could melt your face off live on stage. Known as the Clapton Cowboys via their social media channels, Creatures definitely look the part - Ten Gallon hats and Bolo Ties juxtaposed with the typical shaggy stylings of a UK Psych Rock outfit. Their music is best described as a blend of Americana, Spaghetti Western and Psych - think The Growlers meets Clint Eastwood.

Yassassin

An all-female alt-rock outfit hailing from London. Having been on the scene for a couple of years now, Yassassin have become a fully-fledged force to be reckoned with! An unrelenting onslaught of catchy hooks, thoughtful lyrics and raw girl power. Expect to see them tear up the stage, get the crowd jumping and deliver bar after bar of psychedelic awesomeness.

Hotel Lux

Portsmouth-raised, London-based; you can let go of those sharp pangs of betrayal because the boys from Hotel Lux are back in Pompey for Psych Fest! Named after a soviet-era hotel where communists were exiled and often taken from to be murdered, Hotel Lux have little in common with their deadly namesake - these boys are committed to delivering top-tier Psych/Indie rock woven together with poignant lyrics in their signature spoken-word style.

Check our their video for The Last Hangman, Hotel Lux’s latest single:

Tickets still available for Portsmouth Psych Fest here!