OUTSIDE IN
PW
Karmatrain AAA
Sprawling conceptual debut from Auckland five-piece.
It says something about Outside In’s headspace that the starting point for their first album was Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha, a philosophical tract no self-respecting hippy would be seen without as the 60s bloomed. Perhaps even more tellingly, Hesse’s meditation on the path to enlightenment and self-discovery was singer Mikey Brown’s holiday reading. It comes as little surprise that Karmatrain, though clearly in thrall to A Perfect Circle and Karnivool, isn’t afraid to let its freak flag fly with occasional blooms of harmony that recall the cool notes of Crosby, Stills & Nash.