Lemon Sky “Dos” 2016. Silver and gold splatter on translucent yellow vinyl. Lemon Sky is a five-piece modern psych-prog rock band from Cincinnati – I hadn’t heard of them before this past weekend when I saw them play with fellow-Cincinattians Suck the Honey at a hole-in-the-wall tavern in Beaver Dam, WI. By the end of the show I was lining up to pick up some vinyl and oh boy, is it psychedelically pretty! Even the cover has trippy elements; designed and printed by vocal/guitarist Aaron Madrigal, the back has a cool imprint that when lit by black light, comes to life.

From their Facebook page “a heavy yet highly-melodic brand of psychedelic garage rock that combines the classic rock pomp and stomp of Led Zeppelin with the paisley pop melodies and modern musicality of Queens of the Stone Age for a forward-thinking sound rooted in the past. The band’s signature three-guitar attack consists of vocalist Aaron Madrigal, lead guitarist Ed Bruker, and noise machine Eric Cronstein while the he foundation of the the group is laid down by drummer Eric Keyes and bassist Steven Korfhagen. This pairing of instrumentation allows Lemon Sky’s live show to recreate and expand upon their recorded material with visceral textures, tonal layers, and rhythmic intricacies. A Lemon Sky show is nothing if not full, heavy, and intense.”

Yes to all of this. The show was pure joy to watch – there were times when their toes, choreographed in unison, reached out to touch the amazing expanse of foot pedals.

Lemon Sky’s drummer, Eric Keyes, was particularly expressive as he thrashed away, providing power that could easily fill a stadium.

I wasn’t familiar with Lemon Sky’s catalog prior to this show but I definitely remember a few songs they played that appear on Dos, the Halloween-ish “Ash and Bone,” the excellent “Guillotine” (the intro reminiscent of Zeppelin’s “D’Yer Mak’er”) and the absolute killer track “Kept in Beyond” which is an epic psychedelic hard-rock thrasher that brought to mind Zeppelin’s “The Crunge” but – I like it better! (Here is an acoustic version of “Kept In the Beyond” which is also amazing.)  Strains of the more trippy aspects of the Beach Boys peak through in the harmonies on tracks like “Dos” and “Bad Bad” (though way heavier than the Beach Boys). I hope Lemon Sky ventures back to Wisconsin soon, hopefully to somewhere less remote.

**Show photos credited to my friend Mike Collins, who has a much better camera than I do.