Monoculture - Heavier Daze (2016)

Monoculture is Dallas' own psychedelic blues rock group. What once started as aimless jams between founders and longtime friends Olan Mijana and Nick Leibold became something with a little more purpose when the two convened in the summer of 2013 to improvise their way through an incomplete work titled "Pastel Prison" that would later become a staple in their live performance arsenal. A solo ad-libbed performance of the tune on a busker's guitar in an NYC subway that received an ovation from passerbys was all that was needed for the two to realize they were onto something. Those once aimless jams soon became a four-track demo that the two worked on together while 300 miles apart.

That demo was just the start, leading them to a couple of studio sessions, a number of well-attended live shows in Dallas and Austin, and finally the completion of their debut album "Heavier Daze," to be released in February 2016. Heavier Daze switches between several moods, from soulful blues, jingle-jangle psych pop, noisy, wall-of-sound fuzz rock, Spanish melodies, and music to gallop to across the desert. The overarching concept is a nod to the guitar and its phenomenal ability to transport a listener anywhere. Later joined by bass player Jason Trevino,Monoculture's studio sounds took shape on the stage in a more stripped-down power trio format, focusing on the energetic, improvisational approach to rock & roll that epitomized the iconic acts of the 60's.