Many Levels of Laughter

By mingling contemporary and vintage instruments and effects, Chicago-based J Fernandez assembles pensive, novel neo-psychedelic lo-fi on his self-recorded debut long-player, Many Levels of Laughter. Instrumentation is led by late-'60s electronic sounds including Vox Jaguar organ and distorted guitars, together with contemporary effects, bass, drums, and not-to-be-overlooked saxophone, all wrapped in a raw, intimate presentation. Like a mix of the Doors, (fellow Chicagoans) Joan of Arc, and Grizzly Bear, with Robyn Hitchcock-reminiscent lilting-talky melodic tendencies, it comes off as sentimental, experimental, and fascinating all at once. The most nostalgic track on the album is probably "Casual Encounter" with its organ/guitar/bass/saxophone jam intro that leads into highly reverbed, understated vocals (notwithstanding the ironically oft-repeated "Please don't listen to me") and drum fills out of the past. By contrast, "Read My Mind" has jangly guitar and grooving bass but is still