On A Micro Diet: Vinyl 2LP

MYSTIC 100’S, formally known as MILK MUSIC are an underground psychedelic rock group from Washington State.

The band first gained worldwide notoriety with their self-released debut “Beyond Living” in 2010, and since then have enjoyed critical acclaim and a steady cult following, despite being notoriously hard to find information about, and seldom seen performing live since 2013.

The current line-up is a sextet featuring Alex Coxen (guitar vocals), Dave Harris (guitar), Charles Waring (bass), Abby Dahlquist (piano/synthesizer), Joe Rutter & Travis Coster (percussion).

“On a Micro Diet” is the band’s first new release since the “dark witted and heavy lidded eco blues” of 2017’s ‘MYSTIC-100’S’.

At 75 minutes, “Micro Diet” is a lofty collection of music. Inspired by frequent LSD use, the record features a wide range of musical styles that might all fit under the umbrella terms of “groovy’’ and “out there”, constantly shifting between stretches of coherent rhythmic groove and structural collapse.

Here are some descriptive review excerpts of from an essay on the album:

“The record feels very live and alive.”

“Sounds like Crazy Horse covering Popul Vuh.”

“Where the band jams remains the land of the sunset.”

“The exuberant freedom expressed by the band whether it’s a ten minute, two chord ramble tamble, or laying into feedback and chimes like it’s a sauna, it inspires pride and courage. It takes guts to survive in the wilderness of the American imagination and by my reckon, Mystic 100’s must talk to the birds,like Saint Francis did, to remain so deeply in the dew.”

“Every 3-5 years Milk Music has sounded Mystical and now the Mystic’s sound magical.” 

(Anthony Boruch-Comstock, Mystic Manifesto, Jan ’23)

Track list:

01 On a Micro Diet
02 Message From Lonnie
03 Drug Man
04 Windowpane
05 Two Souls
06 Have You Ever Chased a Lightbeam?
07 On a Micro Diet II
08 Food for the Boogieman
09 First Day of Peace (Short Version)