‘Fore’ Introduces New Musical Styles to Liquid Pennies’ Experimental Toolbox
Their sound spilled out of an early ‘60s Southern California garage, flowed up to San Francisco a few years later, spent a couple decades trickling through the UK art scene, then rose back out of the American underground.
St. Petersburg’s Liquid Pennies has been exploring the boundaries of psychedelic rock, and all of its derivatives, since the band’s formation in 2018.
Following their 2019 debut album, Floods, each subsequent record has incorporated new musical elements, production techniques, or band members into Liquid Pennies’ psychedelic-prog-rock foundation. 2021’s Distant Dawn welcomed Zoë Turtle on violin and vocals, layering in more avant-garde and post-punk influences, while 2022’s Any Wonder continued pushing the band forward in time towards the 90’s alternative scene.
Despite their continued evolution, a few defining characteristics remain constant throughout Liquid Pennies’ work—complex arrangements, a gloomy atmosphere, and founding member Chas Binns (vocals, guitar, synth). Also puns. There are lots of puns.
The band’s upcoming fourth album, Fore, releasing July 25th, doubles down on these patterns with its title, arrangements, and the full-length debut of two new members—Tysonius Mink on bass and synth, and Pierson Whicker on drums. The release of Fore marks a turning point for Liquid Pennies, not just in their lineup, but in their entire approach to songwriting. The album leans much further into electronica, emphasizing the band’s synth-pop influences with a heavy reliance on the drum machine and synthesizer.
The electronic beat of Fore’s opening track, “Tapered Scape”, offers an immediate taste of the band’s new direction. The robotic delivery of abstract, minimalist lyrics presents an emotionally removed perspective on the song’s themes of confinement, deception, and truth, before devolving into the heavy reverb rumble and hazy ethereal vocal sounds audiences have come to expect.
The steady dance grooves continue with “Ready Tide”, as the song explores the ideas of suppression through conformity, and the path to awakening.
If the first two tracks are an introduction of Fore’s new direction, the 11-minute third entry, “Echolalia”, works as a reminder of the experimental melting pot from which the band was born, starting with an eastern-psych-rhythm before transitioning into full doom-metal intensity.
“Slight Skewer” resets the album’s energy at track four, drawing further from eastern and post-punk influences to create an ethereal, melancholic atmosphere. “Elliptic Triptych” then adds another peak of kinetic energy to Fore’s sonic journey with a relentless krautrock ripper.
From there, the album begins winding down, first, with a three-minute immersive soundscape, entitled “Further Ennui”. “The Bone” follows, adding another surprise in the form of acoustic strings. Featuring former member, Zoë Turtle, on violin, the track softens the electric whirlwind of Fore with its serene folk elements. But in classic Liquid Pennies form, the bridge leaps to another time and place, pulling once more from their world-music toolbox with a Mambo breakdown.
The reverb fade-out transitions into the record’s final and title track, “Fore”, an experimental, psychedelic soundscape reflective of the album’s own disorienting journey. For fans of straightforward psychedelic or indie rock, Fore may come off as a cacophony. But for progressive obsessives, the album seamlessly blends a myriad of musical influences into one surprisingly cohesive, boundary-pushing piece of work.
Fore is set to release on streaming platforms July 25th, 2025, with vinyl pre-orders available at https://threatcollection.com/product/liquid-pennies-fore-lp/. The record will also be available for purchase at Liquid Pennies’ album release show at Bayboro Brewing on Saturday, July 26th, featuring support from The Venus and TV Extra.
Tickets available here.
Written by J.C. Roddy
