Timothy Eerie's new album 'Work Free Drug Place' is pure psychedelic mastery

See for yourself when they open for MSSV this weekend

By Bao Le-Huu on Thu, Oct 19, 2023 at 2:29 pm

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Photo by Casey Lerman

Timothy Eerie drops stellar new psych album

Like their drugs, much exploration has gone into Timothy Eerie’s music. Since their mid-2010s emergence, Orlando’s most true-blue psych band have gone from passionate disciples to commanding shamans. That evolution has played out well on stage, but their records have shown only glimpses since their 2019 debut album Ritual.

Timothy Eerie’s just-dropped sophomore LP, however, is the full testament of their crystallization. Coming four long years after their debut, new album Work Free Drug Place is a tight compendium of the psychedelic mastery that bandleader Casey Lerman has developed since then.

Reflective of their live trajectory, this album generally revs harder in what’s proven to be Timothy Eerie’s best gear. From hot acid burners (“Your Own Trip,” “Toad Venom,” “Sapphire Eyes,” “Skip Spence”) to well-grooved magic carpet rides (“Staring at the Sun,” “Higher Than You” and a smoldering interpretation of The Beatles’ “Get Back”), the bulk of the LP’s songs are rockers. Even the several dreamy numbers (“Feeling Human,” “Avant Gardener” and a cover of the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band’s “I Won’t Hurt You”) have more incisiveness than before. It all adds up to a consistently impressive collection.

Work Free Drug Place is at last a comprehensive bottling of a Timothy Eerie that’s been years in the making. While their music has always been rooted in psych tradition, they’ve become a distinctive force by doing it with rock power and pop clarity. This new album is proof that Timothy Eerie are no longer just the truest but one of the best trad-psych bands to ever rise from Orlando.

The band, who’ve been on an East Coast tour for the past month, will celebrate the album’s release with a big homecoming show this weekend (Oct. 22, Will’s Pub) opening for MSSV, the all-star trio of Mike Baggetta, Mike Watt (yes, thee Mike Watt) and Stephen Hodges.

Work Free Drug Place’s two excellent leadoff singles — “Your Own Trip” and “Staring at the Sun” — are available on 7-inch vinyl through Bandcamp.

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