Wilderness City - Psychodelic Girl

Wilderness City

Psychodelic Girl
self-released; 2014

3.2 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

Jack Potz aka Wilderness City was sixteen years old when he recorded Psychodelic Girl. Being sixteen years old you usually don’t have access to a studio full of gear. He recorded with what he had, which was a $40 mic and an Ipad. Where there’s a will there’s a way I say. Just make music. In the case of Psychodelic Girl there is some rubbish and some inspired moments, which points to possible potential for Potz. He stated Psychodelic Girl is mainly a reflection of his musical influences at the time it was made, which included My Bloody Valentine, Slint, Big Black, Spiritualized, Radiohead, Sonic Youth, and Aphex Twin. The kid has good taste. Psychodelic Girl doesn’t come close to the caliber of those artists. That’s not much of a surprise as almost no one does. What I found interesting was that Potz’s music often didn’t sound anything like the inspirations he mentioned, which I thought was a good thing.

One of the highlights and a downright solid effort was “Black Arts + Red Coast.”The song is creepy, dissonant and has more in common with The Haxan Cloak and Tim Hecker than the artists he mentioned. There are a couple of other snippets on this album that stood out to me. “Roswell Rebels” implements a loop of fluctuating white noise with delayed percussive elements. It lies somewhere between Autechre and Alog.

“Children Are Eating Our Sand” was another solid offering, which combines rotating metallic percussive effects with shards of white noise. The song doesn't go anywhere but it wasn’t bad.I know Potz was limited but the hardest component to get past was the digitally injected organic drums that sounded like straight up presets from garageband. Potz also sings but his vocals are usually so buried in the mix and manipulated that are like a background instrument.

Potz has a long way to go as an artist but remember he can’t even legally vote. Godspeed young man, you have great taste in music and for your limited setup have made some noteworthy material.

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