Bridging freeform art-pop with Bacharach breeziness, the Oxford-hailing outfit specialise in disorientation by design, discarding structure via open-ended shimmering guitar, tunnelling electronica and tessellating vocals. Marking the band's first full-length debut since emerging with their initial EP back in 2021, Earth-Sized Worlds is the collective hitting a creative stride in reconvening their brand of ear-searing multidimensionality, off-the-wall eclecticism that has seen the band endearingly termed “flowerkraut”, owing to a dial set somewhere between the summer of love and the zenith of the German prog scene.
Combining the influence of Jefferson Airplane with the subterranean riffs of Can, Mandrake Handshake take undeniable cues from the late-60s zeitgeist, unbound progressive rock-leaning scope that gears between kaleidoscopic melodies and vistas overlapping with each other in vivid fractal sonic patter. Flowing organic harmonies preside on a nine-track odyssey that leans primarily into the early 70s Canterbury-scene for reference: the outfit shedding a terrestrial garb in favour of cosmic scale. Cascading electronica sweeps through standout “Hypersonic Super-Asterid” in dizzying fashion, percolating synth and guitar animating “King Cnut” in an infectious interplay between bright shuffling indie pop and grandiose avant-garde heights.
“Find the Tree (And Dig Deep!)” similarly splices through fracturing offshoots, lunar loftiness that surges to the fore with Devo-lite intro riffs, Trinity Oksana's lullaby-like vocals piercing through a haze of flute and plush percussive spirals. Bleeding with simmering funk, “Charlie’s Comet” finds the collective zoning in on an immersive ambience, whilst “Lorenzo’s Desk” dispatches with a louche lounge room zeal that seems destined to soundtrack 70s fondue parties.
As with more recent revivalist acts such as Moon Duo and Black Mountain, Mandrake Handshake model their range on bygone tropes, with one foot in the present and another in the intergalactic ether. Without appearing arcane, Earth-Sized Worlds snapshots the group in their element, continuing to breathe new life into the remnants of often overlooked sub-genres in a brain-frying madcap patchwork.
