Brothers From Another Planet New Planet Trampoline issues its first full-length on Elephant Stone Records By Chris Rager “I think that music in general should be psychedelic,” explains New Planet Trampoline singer/guitarist/songwriter Matt Cassidy while sitting in the band's Lakewood practice spot, a spacious section of a basement with random amps and musical equipment scattered around. The computer on a desk along the wall is what they used to record their latest full-length, The Curse of New Planet Trampoline, released on Cleveland-based Elephant Stone Records. “It [music] should be imagery-oriented and make you think of bizarre things, daydream, whatever,” Cassidy continues.“ There's hardcore punk records that I think are psychedelic, like [Husker Du's] Zen Arcade.” Cassidy, and organist Ben Gmetro, bassist Dave Molnar and drummer Charlie Druesdow, aren't complacent with the term “psychedelic” and spend a good amount of time talking about it. “Psychedelic can mean the Grateful Dead playing ‘Johnny Be Good' or it could mean the Pretty Things with sitars and crazy guitar effects,” Gmetro says. “Yeah, the '60s psychedelic thing — a lot of it is kind of pretentious, phony love-your- brother and stuff,” Cassidy adds. “It was a put-on then, and to do it now would probably be a put-on.” Don't get the wrong idea though — New Planet Trampoline's sound is very '60s, and it is very psychedelic. However, there is a sense of affiliation with punk and underground music that drives the sound to its unique state. “You always want to do a big psychedelic, epic song or something like that,” Cassidy says. “But I try to keep in mind that in the foreseeable future, for a long time, we'll be playing in bars. I think it's important to make it work in a situation where it's immediate and instinctive.” This approach will perhaps serve to prevent NPT from becoming pretentious and phony. Rather than try to emulate its recordings live, NPT strives to do the opposite. “There's a lot you can do sonically with four instruments,” says Dave Molnar, the newest member. “Instead of everybody kind of backing off and playing a role, we try to push ahead, kind of like an adventure on every instrument.” New Planet Trampoline initially began in 2001 as a vehicle for singer-guitarist Matt Cassidy, who was playing with the Volta Sound, of which he is currently (and soon to be formerly) a member. While the Volta Sound is perhaps Cleveland's answer to California psych-garage rockers the Brian Jonestown Massacre (who tend to be mellow and droning), New Planet Trampoline recalls more of the frenetic cusp of '60s psychedelia. Bands such as Love and the Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd come to mind, as do early '90s British shoegazer/indie bands such as Ride, Swervedriver and Teenage Fanclub. At first, New Planet Trampoline had a sort of loose Cassidy-plus-whoever-was-around line-up that eventually solidified into its current roster of Gmetro, Molnar and Druesdow — all of whom are current members of Byrds-inspired and Davenport Collective associates the Dreadful Yawns. Gmetro was also formerly a member of the Volta Sound. The Davenport Collective has been criticized as being nothing more than a small clique of '60s-inspired psyche rockers who pursue several bands simultaneously (using mostly the same members) and play the same style of music in every band. However, although the Davenport bands happen to share musicians here and there, they are all very distinct and different. “As each band got better, they got more individual — each band is its own separate entity now,” New Planet Trampoline drummer Charlie Druesdow explains. Not only is NPT its own entity, but it's also quite democratic and, as Gmetro explains, “it's cool because we have this band identity now — and now that it has been the four of us and that's the way its going to be, everyone's started writing their own parts.” Rather then having a so-called band leader, like so many bands do, NPT has found it's actually easier and faster to work together collaborating on songs. You know, like that love your brother stuff.

New Planet Trampoline The Curse of the New Planet Trampoline (Elephant Stone) More kids choking on the vibes of the legendary 60’s UFO club being perpetually worn down by acid flashbacks are Cleveland combo New Planet Trampoline. Featuring ex The Volta Sound man Matt Cassidy, the NPT’s do Floyd better than Barrett himself, okay a slight lie if truth be told but then you’ll be hard pushed to find anything of similar reverence this side of Robyn Hitchcock that’s for sure. “The curse” features eleven cuts that seem to have tripped bewildered and confused straight out of the late 60’s like something befitting the Nuggets series where everything that was special from that time has been mixed carefully into a mind melting kaleidoscopic haze, chiming guitars fizzle resplendently against warping keyboards to create an authentic timeless sheen. Nag champa and Fake ass moon provide the albums centrepieces. The former a slow charged mind melting looping chord epic that dissolves before your eyes and hitting the midway point where the Beatles Within you without you ends and Spacemen 3’s Walking with Jesus begins, the latter combining that trademark melancholic tinged Apple sound twisted with the sea shanty Scouse-adelica sound much favoured by current kids on the block Stands and the Coral and lacing it to an eerie musical hall backdrop. Even on the less apparent cuts like the North western woodpecker which opts for a grooving garage blues stripped down no nonsense freak out that pays several nods to The Stairs there still lies that lysergic edge. Elsewhere the harmonica drenched Fishbone Song is classic odd ball surrealist Kinks in the making while Hospitality nibbles away at Love’s Little red book and Gimme a moment proves they can mix it up in the glam stakes when the fancy takes them. All killer stuff indeed. —Mark Barton (January 2005)

New Planet Trampoline The Curse of the New Planet Trampoline (Elephant Stone) Sharing adjoining galaxies with Barrett-era Pink Floyd, the Soft Boys and garage-psych one-offs like Bubble Puppy, The New Planet Trampoline shake off their alleged curse long enough to beam down and share their many treasures with us. The Cleveland-based quartet--largely brainstormed by singer-guitarist Matt Cassidy--is proudly anachronistic, but--as with the aforementioned artistes--time and space really isn't a big issue in their world. New Planet operates in some weird twilight where howled non sequiturs splash through oceans of reverb while wiggly fuzztoned solos snake around chopped-out Farfisa riffs in an ever-spiraling M.C. Escher-like arrangement of Straubotomized brainpan residue and pure glee. Or something like that.... Anyway, never mind the curse--get on the Trampoline. —Robert Cherry (November 2004)

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New Planet Trampoline The Curse of the New Planet Trampoline (Elephant Stone) For the most part, New Planet Trampoline offer perfectly serviceable facsimiles of sixties psychedelia and garage rock. The organ-soaked "Phantom Picture Taker" and "Northwestern Woodpecker" sound as if they were dipped in the same chemicals used to artificially age photographs…As the album winds on, though, the band shakes off the haze and organ jangle and produces some pretty decent rock songs; "Gimme a Moment", for instance, is more of a straight-up, hand-clapping rocker, unbound by a generational timestamp. And when the trampoline bounces off the edge, the band finds greater success. The bubbly, jaunty "Fishbone Song" wins with its clever imagery and humor -- "Lonely fishbone on the floor of the aquarium / Looks like fate has finally won / though you weren't playing." -- and "Skeleton Key"'s low, spooky swagger is a welcome shift of tone. If New Planet Trampoline are merely gunning for a retrograde embrace, they're spot-on. Accordingly, they run the risk of sounding dated or derivative, but their orbit runs wide enough for them to avoid such pitfalls. —Georgiana Cohen (November 2004)

New Planet Trampoline The Curse of the New Planet Trampoline (Elephant Stone) Led by the Volta Sound’s Matt Cassidy, NPT ply a path of wonky Anglophile psychedelia, their deep immersion in the canon crossed with a trashier, garage-bred side. Like a dreamy acid idyll dragged earthbound by a snort of speed. —Kim Cooper (November 2004)

New Planet Trampoline The Curse of the New Planet Trampoline (Elephant Stone) Hey, nice Farfisa. These guys have the sixties garage-psych-rock thing down, and as an album, The Curse is scads of fun. Some tunes brashly rock out while others, like "Nag Champa," are pleasantly droning and psychedelic. There's a nice variety of moods present, but aside from maybe one track, all of the songs are heavily sixties rock-influenced. The New Planet Trampoline is led by Matt Cassidy, who also plays guitar with psych-poppers The Volta Sound. After the eastern openess of "Nag Champa" they rip straight into the raw, driving "Gimme a Moment," followed by the wah-inflected groviness of "Whirlpool Clyde," which suggests The Beatles and early Moody Blues. "Skeleton Key" has kind of a country-blues favor, served well by the experience of Cassidy's three bandmates, organist Ben Gmetro, drummer Charlie Druesdow and bassist Dave Molnar, who all play in "Cosmic American country band" The Dreadful Yawns. "Hospitality" is a cool rave-up suggesting the organ-fueled garage-punk of The Seeds or The Count Five ("Psychotic Reaction"). The final track's spooky trippiness recalls the very early days of Pink Floyd with Syd Barrett. Nice. —Michael Snyder (September 2004)

New Planet Trampoline The Curse of the New Planet Trampoline (Elephant Stone) New Planet Trampoline's full-length debut disc is a heap of psychedelic rock 'n' roll that pumps plenty of vintage organ sounds, skittering guitar runs and heady background effects across its 11 tracks. Fronted by guitarist and vocalist Matt Cassidy (also of Cleveland's The Volta Sound), New Planet Trampoline delivers an analog-washed offering that could have been beamed directly from the heart of the '60s garage-psych movement. The band stays tethered to a retro-rock core and shines on tracks such as "Whirlpool Clyde" and "ESP Medallion," but fans will have their own favorites and the 40-minute disc is best consumed whole. For optimal enjoyment, give this one a late-night listen through your favorite set of headphones. —Jim Vickers (August 2004)

New Planet Trampoline Clear As Candy EP (Davenport) Now this is psych-pop, if I ever heard it! I've always been undecided about psych-pop; sometimes I like it, and sometimes I don't - it all depends on the band and their songs. Orange Alabaster Mushroom, for example, were a little too much for me; but on the other hand, this release is in same vein, yet I like it. From the ratty guitar sound to the omnipresent farfisa, this sounds like it was lifted right off of a Nuggets compilation, yet the production (especially in the laidback and reverby "Phantom Picture Taker") actually reminds me more of the Shins early singles. The final song, "The Moon's A Balloon", is a David Bowie-ish low-key acoustic track, which I wasn't too interested in. But in songs like "Burn It Clean, Christine" and the oddly-titled "Tastes Like Mouth", the band has a lot of energy, which makes for a fun listen! (September 2004)

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New Planet Trampoline Clear As Candy EP (Davenport) Clear as Candy is a whirlwind trip through acid-splashed, brightly hued psychedelia. Close your eyes while listening to the reverb-and-farfisa hootenanny that is "Burn It Clean, Christine", and it won't take much effort to visualize New Planet Trampoline (a gaggle of floppy-shirted longhairs, no doubt) rocking out with primary colors washing over them. Mike Cassidy's harmoniously echoing vocals have some grit to them, and the songwriting is fairly poppy, making Clear as Candy sound less swirly and more grounded than Piper at the Gates of Dawn and its ilk. Also, at just over fifteen minutes, the EP is more salvia than LSD. NPT have their shit together, though with a certain looseness that's not necessarily a bad thing; it comes off as breeziness rather than incompetence. The production is also good, though quite heavy on the reverb... but then, that goes with the territory. It's not until the fifth and final song, which is about twice as loud as everything else, that you realize the other four could sound better. But altogether, Clear as Candy is a taste of a promising band... assuming, of course, that you smoke a lot of weed. —Sarah Zachrich (August 2004)

New Planet Trampoline The Curse of the New Planet Trampoline (Elephant Stone) Clear As Candy EP (Davenport) New Planet Trampoline revives the sounds of classic sixties psychedelic rock and pop, complete with crazy riffing psych guitar, Farfisa organ, playful melodies, and totally tripped out lyrics. With a heavy nod to the sound of Syd Barret’s Pink Floyd, and other lesser-known UK acts such as Tomorrow and The Pretty Things, and more than a dash of some American garage rock influences like the Seeds and the 13th Floor Elevators, New Planet Trampoline re-creates the sound of the past with nostalgic perfection, but does so with a whole bunch of new songs like the Farfisa freakout of Phantom Picture Taker, the groovy country psych of Northwestern Woodpecker, the kaleidoscopic Whirlpool Clyde, and the acoustically freaky Fake-Ass Moon. Nag Champa is even one of those dreamy pop excursions with Rick Wright style “Turkish Delight” organ swirling about in the mix. Great stuff! The Clear as Candy EP features Phantom Picture Taker and four different tracks, including the delirious Syd Barrett like rock of Burn It Clean, Christine, the loopy, swoopy organ psychedelia of the title track, and others, making it a worthy companion disc to the full length album. If you love the kind of stuff heard on the Elephant 6 and Free Media labels like The Apples in Stereo and The Dipsomaniacs, you’re sure to love New Planet Trampoline. —Jeff Fitzgerald (July 2004)

New Planet Trampoline The Curse of the New Planet Trampoline (Elephant Stone) Modern psychedelic music from a six-piece collective. The anything goes mentality and heavy influence from the likes of Syd Barrett, XTC and every drug addled freak from the end of the '60s who was shoved in front of a microphone is reflected in titles like "Phantom Picture Taker," "Whirlpool Clyde" and "ESP Medallion." Rather than just melt into space, though, the band is rooted in fairly conventional riffs, standard rhyming couplets and a steady beat. I hear shades of early Status Quo in one song and Blodwyn Pig in another and the list goes on to infinity and beyond as hip kids from the original LSD era might say. There are some moments interspersed throughout in which you could forget the band is from the here and now, but they always throw some modern touch in which shatters the illusion. Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream. (July 2004)

New Planet Trampoline The Curse of the New Planet Trampoline (Elephant Stone) Another fine modern psychedelic disc that can stand proudly with recent efforts from Telepathic Butterflies, The Pillbugs and The Orange Allabaster Mushroom. Matt Cassidy leads this crew through a nice mix of sounds from the peace-and-love era, with the requisite squiggly organ, droning ambiance and even a basic folk-blues rocker ("Northwestern Woodpecker"), which explodes into a freak out guitar fest. On "Gimmie a Moment", a delicious mix of a cool riff and a walking lead guitar make for a constant hook, and working off that, more elements are thrown into the mix to make this a true psych-pop winner. The band can pull off spooky as well as hooky, as illustrated by "Fake-Ass Moon", which has a bit of an early Pink Floyd feel, mixed in with a great use what sounds like a Farfisa organ. The organ also augments the pastoral "Mr. and Mrs. Watterson". There are a couple of sublime melodic twists on this track that show that Cassidy has some real songwriting smarts. I can't get enough of this stuff, when it's done right like this. —Mike Bennett (July 2004)

New Planet Trampoline The Curse of the New Planet Trampoline (Elephant Stone) Groucho: Pinch of Roky Erickson. Dash of Syd Barrett. Cup of Beatles. BAM! Psychedelic yummyness. Zeppo: I haven't heard old style psychedelia this good since early Bevis Frond. Harpo: The weirdest, fucked-up Beatles caricatures since The Beatles. All echoey organs and guitar.

New Planet Trampoline Clear As Candy EP (Davenport) At first I was gonna say it was like the sort of cod psych-pop from the late '60s that was commonly produced by labels trying to cash in on something that was already slightly in the past. However, it's well played and there are some good ideas going on in the way of early Pink Floyd and overall I wouldn't be surprised to be told that these tracks were actually burned off one of the Rubbles compilations. That means if you like psychedelic rock then you'll like this. A lot. —Paul Marsh (May 2004)

New Planet Trampoline The Curse of the New Planet Trampoline (Elephant Stone) Part of the circle of psych-inspired bands revolving around the axis of the Volta Sound, the New Planet Trampoline features two of said group's members in slightly different roles. Matt Cassidy, guitarist in the Volta Sound, handles lead vocals as well here, while Ben Gmetro exchanges his guitar for organ. Rhythm section Dave Molnar and Charlie Druesdow fills out the lineup, and on their full-length debut the quartet creates an enjoyable, sun-kissed/sun-dazed take on dreamy psychedelia. Where the Volta Sound leans more towards shoegaze and Spacemen 3-obsessiveness, the New Planet Trampoline's songs generally either for the prettier and ambling or the more raved-up and fun, with Gmetro's candy-colored organ the secret weapon in keeping the tone trippily playful either way. “Nag Champa" is utterly suffused with drifty keyboard-led good times — the oil projections on the wall can easily be envisioned. Other hazy songs like “Mr. And Mrs. Watterson," the mid-eighties XTC-resembling “Fishbone Song" and, in their closest similarity to the Volta Sound, the moody lope of “Skeleton Key" all appeal on the calmer front. It's not always a soft trip, though — when the band turns the country/rave-up “Northwestern Woodpecker" into a full-on rock rager in the instrumental break, it's a great moment of drama. The great freakout of “Gimme a Moment" and rambling charge of “ESP Medallion" — perhaps the best title on an album full of fine ones — also add to the fun, adding variety and energy both. Cassidy's singing can at times not totally connect — sounding maybe more of a parody rather than a celebration — but his energetic shout on “Northwestern Woodpecker" and enticing harmonies on the concluding “Fake-Ass Moon," a reflective ballad of sorts shows he's got the right skills. Meanwhile, his stellar guitar playing on “Whirlpool Clyde" (matched by fine martial drums from Druesdow) is worth attention on its own. —Ned Raggett (May 2004)

New Planet Trampoline The Curse of the New Planet Trampoline (Elephant Stone) If your idea of a good record is about throwing around rubbles 'n' pebbles 'n' nuggets, time spent listening to this one will definitely be considered as a good one! The captain of the "trip" is Matt Cassidy of Cleveland's psych-popsters The Volta Sound, this time taking a slightly more psych-oriented course than usual. The album opens with the pair of Farfi-sized Britsike workouts, "Phantom Picture Taker" (already heard on the Orange Sky label comp "Carnivals, Cotton Candy and You") sounding like the early Pink Floyd taking part in the "SF Sorrow" sessions and "Mr. and Mrs.Watterson" being another one from the imaginary Syd-fronted 'Floyd archives, a concept revisited once again with "Nag Champa". Moving towards a bit more universal sounding popsike are "Whirlpool Clyde", the folky "Fishbone Song" and "Fake-Ass Moon", which can almost pass as The Turtles demo. "Nothwestern Woodpecker" is a product of the early'60s British r'n'b boom (sounding not unlike their Philly soulmates The Lilys), "Hospitality" is another "pretty" piece of freakbeat, by way of the Dutch Outsiders, and "Gimme A Moment" adds a kinda darker shade, honouring the Music Machine legacy. Adding to the variety of sounds, and also sounding a bit out of place here, is the Johnny Cash tribute called "Skeleton key". There's also a track called "ESP Medallion" which, while not being among my faves here, could've been the one to secure the band's piece of the contemporary garage-hype. —Goran Obradovic (May 2004)

New Planet Trampoline The Curse of the New Planet Trampoline (Elephant Stone) New Planet Trampoline has created a tripped out, psychedelic, but still fun and catchy album all the way from Cleveland, Ohio. It often reminds me of The Beatles “Yellow Submarine” or “The Magical Mystery Tour”. With all of the crazed sounds coming out of my speakers it appears that Matt Cassidy has some good mushrooms brewing up in his studio. Either that or he is a Syd Barrett influenced/minded dreamer. Fans of Brian Jonestown Massacre need to check this out. —Lio (May 2004)

New Planet Trampoline The Curse of the New Planet Trampoline (Elephant Stone) Despite the heavy eyes, slumped shoulders, and feet on the coffee table implied by a dozen or so '60s-minded rockers dubbing themselves the Davenport Collective, the Cleveland multi-instrumentalists never really kick back for long. The four-band enclave has issued half a dozen albums in the past year alone, and they're even more active now that the rising indie Elephant Stone Records has relocated from L.A. to Lakewood. Elephant Stone has already commissioned three Davenport discs, the first of which is the full-length debut from New Planet Trampoline. Fronted by Matt Cassidy (who also sings and plays guitar in the Volta Sound and heads up 9 Volt Haunted House), the band is the Davenport offshoot most infatuated with volume and sweat. "I'm desperate, like a homeless man who hasn't been to sleep in weeks," Cassidy howls early on Curse, his vocal cords stretching like hot taffy. His guitar playing is equally untutored and instinctive: The elastic licks on "Northwestern Woodpecker" sound like a hovering spacecraft, then give way to a Roman fountain of revved-up riffs. Backed by Farfisa organ and seismic bass, it makes this the Davenport release hardest to sit still to. —Jason Bracelin (April 2004)