Near as our detectives can tell, they’ve only released 16 songs since 2013. Their three-song single (featuring Tess Parks on vox on “I Believe In Everything”) was their only purchasable output in 2015. But make no mistake, in Tulip Frenzy World HQ, The Auras were the Psych Band Of The Year.
Formed six years ago when they were all age 18, The Auras have great songwriting, a swirling, sparkling, shimmering guitar sound and the singing — downfall of many a well-conceived psych band — has grit when it’s called for, and lassos the moon when that’s the phase this particular lysergic outing is heading in.
We admit to not having heard of them before they pushed “I Believe In Everything” out there this summer, just in time to ride Parksmania in the weeks following release of her rec with Anton Newcombe. Thing was, while that song sure was alluring, it was “Islands In The Sea” and “Charlton Heston”that got spun at all the pool parties we threw.
Which brought us to their two EPs from 2013, imaginatively titled The Auras EP and EP 2. But trust us: they save the creativity for the sonic explorations that, from the sound of it, ought to keep any Ontario fans of Spaceman 3, Cosmonauts, and The Asteroid #4 tapping their toes ’til the wee hours. They never stray too far from the melody, have a native instinct for how to structure pop songs, and yet there is always something interesting going on at the edges. We are intrigued that in 2012, just as we were pining to hear First Communion Afterparty’s suppressed “Earth-Heat-Sound” The Aura’s had a song out on Bandcamp called “Earth, Sky, Love.” (Could two parallel cultures have arisen, with or without knowledge of each other, across Great Lakes and giant piles of snow?)
On “I Don’t Want To Know You,” which will be out on their Saturn Day EP in January, we hear seeds from The Stems’ “Jumping To Conclusions.” If that tune doesn’t come rushing into your frontal lobes, know this: it is lovely.
While Joe Contreras of By Divine Right produced their last three-song single, The Auras are putting the finishing touches on the new one, which they’ve produced all by themselves. A U.S. tour is promised (it’s warmer down here, guys). And from there, world conquest. Psych Band Of The Year.
Tulip Frenzy 