Tonics & Twisted Chasers is an oft-forgotten Guided by Voices album, but it isn’t due to its quality. The album was originally a fan club-exclusive release and although it’s been reissued since, finding a copy is still difficult. It’s natural to assume that this is a collection of bland, “throwaway” songs for hardcore fans, but Tonics is actually one of the most intriguing albums in GBV’s library. GBV have always been highly influenced by ’60s pop rock, but never before has one of their albums been so possessed by the bizarre, drug-warped minds behind the decade’s strangest psychedelic pop music.

In that regard, it’s musically more of a retro album than anything they’ve ever made, with stereotypically odd ’60s psych production effects on the vocals and guitars. But GBV are an experienced band by the time of this album and stay on course for melody and hooks—unlike a lot of the more directionless psychedelic bands of the ’60s that could frequently get lost in their drug haze. If your only experience with ’60s psych pop are the more friendly bands such as The Beatles and The Byrds, Tonics & Twisted Chasers will likely sound very strange to you.

This is Guided by Voices’s most insane album, and that’s saying a lot.