Tio Bitar

TIO BITAR, Swedish psych revivalists Dungen's follow-up to their 2004 breakthrough album, TA DET LUGNT, packs all the acid-drenched freakiness of its predecessor, but channels it in a more focused direction. Gustav Ejstes and a rotating cast of helpmates continue to party like it's 1969, with plenty of Jimi Hendrix-meets-Jerry Garcia guitar journeys, but this time around Dungen favors concise song forms instead of endless paisley-hued raveups. The shift works well, as soaring vocal harmonies and stately keyboard themes adorn infectious riffs that seem transplanted from some parallel-world version of NUGGETS.
TIO BITAR is bookended by two drastically differing pieces that illustrate the dynamic range Ejstes can muster; the album opens with the appropriately titled "Intro," which immediately plunges the listener into the frenzy of a psychedelic inferno, while closing track "En Gang I Ar Kom Det En Tar" showcases the pretty, balladic side of Dungen via gently plucked acoustic guitar, elegant piano and organ lines, and cooing woodwind sounds. Whether channeling mellow, MEDDLE-era Pink Floyd or churning up a dizzying electric firestorm, TIO BITAR shows that there's still a place for psychedelia in the modern world.