When I first got my hands on this disc, I couldn't help but think that these White Fence folks were a pretty mysterious bunch. From seemingly out of nowhere, without any psychedelic accoutrements whatsoever, White Fence had recorded one of the most intriguing and listenable lo-fi soundtracks to an acid-fried state of mind in quite some time. After doing a bit of research, I discovered that this record is actually the brainchild of one Tim Presley of the groups Darker My Love and The Strange Boys. A-ha! White Fence is NOT a group, but a one-man lysergic freakout: now I'm even more impressed.
Without a doubt, Presley has absorbed the sounds of '60s psych merchants like Syd Barrett and The Electric Prunes, while throwing in a dollop or two of garage-punk aggression. But while many a musician has trod this nouveau-psychedelic path before, there aren't too many people these days delivering the goods with this much conviction and with so many melodic hooks. It's one thing to write and record trippy soundscapes, but it takes a special talent to create memorable songs which stand up to repeated listening. And even if the template for White Fence's approach was established years ago, in the hands of someone like Tim Presley, it still sounds as fresh as ever. Definitely one of this reviewer's fave discs of the year thus far.