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Psychedelic pop (or acid pop) is a genre of
pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...
that contains musical characteristics associated with
psychedelic music Psychedelic music (sometimes called psychedelia) is a wide range of popular music styles and genres influenced by 1960s psychedelia, a subculture of people who used psychedelic drugs such as Dmt, DMT, Lysergic acid diethylamide, LSD, mescaline, ...
. Developing in the mid-to-late 1960s, elements included " trippy" features such as fuzz guitars, tape manipulation, backwards recording,
sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau K ...
s, and
Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by thei ...
-style harmonies, wedded to melodic songs with tight song structures. The style lasted into the early 1970s. It has seen revivals in subsequent decades by neo-psychedelic artists.


Characteristics

According to
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
, psychedelic pop was not too "freaky", but also not very " bubblegum" either. It appropriated the effects associated with straight psychedelic music, applying their innovations to concise pop songs. The music was occasionally confined to the studio, but there existed more organic exceptions whose psychedelia was bright and melodic. AllMusic adds: "What's trangeis that some psychedelic pop is more interesting than average psychedelia, since it had weird, occasionally awkward blends of psychedelia and pop conventions – the Neon Philharmonic's 1969 album '' The Moth Confesses'' is a prime example of this."


Notable works (1966–1969)

1966 * ''
Pet Sounds ''Pet Sounds'' is the eleventh studio album by the American Rock music, rock band the Beach Boys, released on May 16, 1966, by Capitol Records. It was produced, arranged, and primarily composed by Brian Wilson with guest lyricist Tony Asher. R ...
'' by
the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...
– The album came as an indirect result of bandleader
Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (June 20, 1942 – June 11, 2025) was an American musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop compositio ...
's experimentation with
psychedelic drug Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips") and a perceived "expansion of consciousness". Also referred to as classic halluc ...
s. Music journalist Mike McPadden credits it with sparking a psychedelic pop revolution. He says that while psychedelic rock had existed before ''Pet Sounds'', mainly among
garage band Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock music that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The style is ...
s like the 13th Floor Elevators, ''Pet Sounds'' inspired mainstream pop acts to take part in the psychedelic culture. * ''
Revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...
'' by
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
– According to AllMusic, the album ensured that psychedelia emerged from its underground roots and presented in the mainstream as psychedelic pop. Biographer Ian MacDonald wrote that the album "had initiated a second pop revolution – one which, while galvanising their existing rivals and inspiring many new ones, left all of them far behind". * " Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys – Proclaimed by journalist Barney Hoskyns as the "ultimate psychedelic pop record" from Los Angeles in its time. ''
Popmatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...
'' added: "Its influence on the ensuing psychedelic and progressive rock movements can't be overstated ... tchanged the way a pop record could be made, the way a pop record could sound, and the lyrics a pop record could have." 1967 * " Penny Lane" and "
Strawberry Fields Forever "Strawberry Fields Forever" is a song by the English Rock music, rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was released on 13 February 1967 as a double A-side single with "Penny Lane". It represented ...
" by the Beatles – the double A-sided single is described by AllMusic as a prototype for psychedelic pop. * ''
Evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...
'' was a transitional album between The Hollies' conventional pop sound and what the Oxford 'Encyclopedia of Popular Music' described as the "full-blown psychedelic glory of ''
Butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...
.''" * " Arnold Layne" and " See Emily Play" by
Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...
– Two singles written by
Syd Barrett Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, guitarist and songwriter who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Until his departure in 1968, he was Pink Floyd's frontman and primary songwriter, ...
that helped set the pattern for pop-psychedelia in Britain. 1968 * '' Odessey and Oracle'' by the Zombies – AllMusic's Bruce Eder characterizes the album as "some of the most powerful psychedelic pop/rock ever heard out of England". According to ''Record Bin''s Joshua Packard, the album was a "psychedelic pop spectacle". " Care of Cell 44", its opening track, "presents the band as bearers of a new kind of psychedelia, one that relied less on psychotropics and more on the natural abilities of the band. ... he albumhas gained a well-deserved reputation for being one of the greatest pop records of the '60s."


Decline and revivals

By the end of the 1960s, psychedelic folk and rock were in retreat. Many surviving acts moved away from psychedelia into either more back-to-basics " roots rock", traditional-based, pastoral or whimsical folk, the wider experimentation of
progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...
, or riff-laden heavy rock. Psychedelic influences lasted a little longer in pop music, stretching into the early 1970s. Psychedelic pop became a component of the neo-psychedelic style. There were occasional mainstream acts that dabbled in the genre, including
Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...
's mid-1980s work and some of Lenny Kravitz's 1990s output, but it has mainly been the domain of alternative and indie rock bands. Animal Collective saw commercial success in the 2000s; their 2009 album ''
Merriweather Post Pavilion Merriweather Post Pavilion is an outdoor concert venue located in the planned community of Columbia, Maryland. In 2010, Merriweather was named the second best amphitheater in the United States by ''Billboard'' magazine. The venue was also ranke ...
'' featured a reverb-heavy psychedelic pop sound that exerted a wide influence on music of the subsequent decade.


List of artists


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * J. Kitts and B. Tolinski, eds, ''Guitar World Presents Pink Floyd'' (Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard, 2002), , p. 6. {{Psychedelic music Pop music genres Psychedelic music American styles of music