All hands on deck. New York’s Kaleidoscope is here with their atomic LP After the Future…

I’ve said it before and I’ll state it on the record here: of all the New York bands right now, Kaleidoscope is – by far – my underdog favorite. They’ve got a Vietnam vet, militaristic sense to them. I don’t know if I should give them change or call the psych ward. Whether you’re seeing them live or listening to their records, they give off an air of some rogue army guy in a tattered camo jacket that’s done too much LSD, ranting about not getting their pension or how the government is putting fluoride in the water, man.

After the Future… follows suit.

Lead singer and guitarist Shiva comes off like he’s angry about… something. Whether it’s his slice of government cheese or some PTSD he had to endure in the Iraq war, I’ll never know. The drummer and bassist – Owen and Joe, respectively – give a rhythmic energy akin to a military band gone rogue to match Shiva’s energy.

From the first flat snare hit, you know this LP will deliver on everything that Kaleidoscope has offered up before. It oozes and slides around, yet stays in formation. It slacks off just enough before going into a psilosybin-laced rant about blood in the streets. I don’t know if I should march towards inevitable destruction or march to protest against whatever they’re putting in our water.

It’s toxic and Kaleidoscope drink it willfully.

After the Future… fits perfect in 2019 and yet feels so 1969. It harnesses the discontent and rage that our parents’ generation felt when Abbie Hoffman stood up and exclaimed, “The only way to support a revolution is to make your own,” before they got bored or decided it was too much work.

Kaleidoscope wraps up everything that millenials should be angry about and makes it a presentable and digestible fury. After the Future… legitimizes what older generations brush off and what the government obfuscates, giving it the raw energy that history books and historical fiction movies give to the late 60’s and 70’s.