1964-1966United Kingdom / United States

Psychedelic Pop

Also known as psych pop

A concise pop style that borrowed the shimmer, studio trickery, and strange glow of psychedelia without losing its melodic center.

Origins and context

The genre emerged in the mid-1960s from the overlap of pop songwriting, studio experimentation, and psychedelic culture in the UK and US.

United KingdomUnited States

The sound

Characteristics

Lush vocal harmonies
Tape effects
Backwards guitar
Fuzz guitar
Sitar
Unusual studio processing

History

The style took shape in the mid-1960s as pop artists began folding studio experimentation into songs that still aimed for radio-sized immediacy. AllMusic notes that psychedelic pop took the innovations of psychedelia and applied them to concise, catchy pop songs, and points to the Beatles’ 1966 album Revolver as an early turning point. The Beatles’ "Strawberry Fields Forever" and The Beach Boys’ "Good Vibrations" are two of the genre’s clearest reference points, both tied to highly inventive studio work and released in 1966–1967. The Beatles’ official site places "Strawberry Fields Forever" in the psychedelic pop/rock zone, while The Beach Boys’ official discography highlights Pet Sounds and Good Vibrations as central releases from the same period.