Press Play: Acid Tongue

Piloted by Guy Keltner (singer/songwriter) and Ian Cunningham (drummer/visual artist), Acid Tongue is a Chicago and Los Angeles based band who has been spreading their psychedelic, lovestruck gospel across the world since 2015. After the release of their debut EP I Died Dreaming, the band garnered enough attention to land opening shows for King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, De La Soul, Ariel Pink, and Pacific Northwest giants The Sonics. In 2016, the ambitious duo founded their own label Freakout Records and released their debut album Babies soon after.

Acid Tongue’s debut effort Babies is 10 tracks of retro-modern psychedelic hits. After the brief “Introduction”, the album delves into “Humpty Dumpty”, a sixties reminiscent love song with reverb-drenched vocals and a rhythm assembled for hip-swaying. “If I Really Loved Her” is an endearing testament to love that showcases the duo’s penchant for vintage soul variations. Acid Tongue has great taste in sixties to eighties psychedelic, garage and soul music. On Babies, the band uses their influences in such a way that they are able to present an excellent launch pad to add their own niche touch.

This year, Acid Tongue released their sophomore album Bullies. The record finds them fully-evolved with a mature sound; commenting on millennial culture upon a sturdy foundation of energetic, hard-rocking soul songs. The opening track “Follow the Witch” is charmingly familiar with a callback to the Stones’ “Sympathy For the Devil.” There’s a common theme of juxtaposition among the instrumentals and the lyrics in the tracks which offers a sharp edge that keeps you on your toes. The title track’s mocking chorus, “Rich kids and bullies/They’re always out to get you/They’ll swallow you whole,” is backed by string arrangements and a cheerful buoyancy that makes you want to sing along in revelry.