Imaad Wasif with Two Part Beast

After introducing himself to the world with an acoustic debut album two years ago, this former Yeah Yeah Yeahs touring guitarist returns with a self-released psych rock album. The psych persona suits him to a tee, as Wasif sounds completely at ease throughout this album, even if he is singing about "astral ways of love” or declaring: "I am a chrysalis.” While the lyrical content of Strange Hexes might not be much to write home about, it’s a beautifully melodic album with quite a few surprises. Opener "Wanderlusting” starts off as a pleasant acoustic jam laid on top of a buzzing lead guitar, then balloons suddenly and jubilantly into a thunderous metal-via-Crazy Horse rampage, Wasif leading the way with a righteous extended solo. Unexpected nuggets of goodness like this are a common occurrence on this neat little album. If only he stopped saying things like, "you are so crystalline,” then we’d really be in business.