Projekt send over a review of the remastered reissues of Idylls and Ardor printed in :Ritual:, an Italian underground music magazine covering the dark, gothic, electro, and industrial spectrum. The following is an attempt at an English translation:

The dream pop to rediscover

The Californian duo made up of multi-instrumentalist Ryan Lum and singer Suzanne Perry, LSD remain one of the best-kept secrets of dream pop. Idylls, their debut originally released in 1992, shows a group that is still somewhat immature and repetitive, but already capable of fascinating listeners. The lesson of Cocteau Twins is filtered through solemn atmospheres that recall Dead Can Dance’s Within The Realms…, without neglecting nods to labelmates such as Lycia and Black Tape For A Blue Girl.

It is, however, with the later Ardor (1994) that the group would achieve its small masterpiece, thanks to songwriting that had now matured and allowed for a more varied and personal approach. On the one hand, the more ethereal moments are refined, with some passages that would not be out of place on an album by This Mortal Coil. On the other, a more concrete approach is not shunned, thanks to electric guitars that at times give the music a shoegaze edge.

It is surprising to discover how, listening back today, these albums have aged remarkably well: their original sheen, especially in the case of Ardor, is almost intact. There is nothing transcendental, however, about the bonus tracks added to the reissue — a couple of remixes, a couple of live tracks, and little else. But that hardly matters: anyone who missed them at the time will have no more excuses.

Tony Aramini