What started out as a solo project – a single cell – has grown into a proper band – a living, breathing organism that has created one of the finest psychedelic pop albums that the Southeast has produced in years. Originally the brainchild of Jackson Gafford, the band now features a core group of Birmingham, AL multi-instrumentalists – drummer Abby Anderson (Holy Youth; Dommel Mosel) and bassist Timothy Collier (Dogwood Lung) – whose individual instincts bring greater vigor and complexity to the proceedings. Aptly named, Arboretum is home to Captain Kudzu’s rich growth (released on Earth Libraries). Often a shorthand for fuzzy guitars, time-warped effects, and washed-out textures, lots of “psychedelic rock” might provide a fun soundtrack for your next vision quest, but it’s a poor approximation of the experience itself. Scientifically-speaking (sort of), certain chemicals smear the boundaries of our brain by flooding them with serotonin. When those receptors are properly overloaded, they make fewer distinctions between sights, sounds, time, space, feelings – hence the feeling of “one-ness.” It’s amazing that such a profound journey is born from a single drop.