Nashville Indie Psych Pop Royalty: Rain Dance, w/ The Smoking Flowers

Rain Dance:
Rain Dance is Nashville psych-pop royalty: infectiously melodic songs like "Forever's Shorter Every Day" hearken readily to classic wall of sound sensibilities, while anthemic "Shadows To Our Shadows" delivers on an unpredictable mashup of harmonica and bass heavy synthesizer riffs.  Musically engaging and innovative at every turn, the 5-piece band (Catherine Swander, Jesse Daniel Edwards, Jonathon "Shoe" Shoemaker, Gabriel Pigg, and Jesse "J.D." Dorman), intricately layer keys and guitar soundscapes on top of hypnotic rhythm section blitzes (by not one, but two drum sets)- regularly featuring such exotic instruments as the Xaphoon and Aerophone.  Led by the two Jesses' spooky vocals and lush harmonies dishing on themes ranging from meditations on the Kama Sutra to ayahuasca induced jungle trips, the live performance still manages to leave absolutely everything to the imagination.
-Ray Calvert (AP)

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The Smoking Flowers:
"A punkish/alt-country/whatever-you-need-it-to-be masterpiece... Kurt Cobain's ratty sweater traded for a CBGB t-shirt and bolo tie." ~ Relix Jambands