Sun Dial emerged in 1990 with their debut album Other Way Out, which earned strong notices for its precise recreation of late-’60s psychedelia. The group delivered soaring vocals paired with matching trippy lyrics, progressive chord changes, and striking acid-rock guitar alongside assorted unconventional instruments.
Hailing from south London, the band originated around frontman Gary Ramon on guitar and vocals, formerly of the Modern Art, who enlisted Anthony Clough on bass, bamboo flutes, and organ together with Dave Morgan on drums and percussion. UFO later issued a reissue and repackage of Other Way Out along with its most prominent track, “Exploding in Your Mind.” John Pelech took over drums from Morgan, while Nigel Carpenter joined on bass and Chris Dalley on guitar; Clough’s role diminished accordingly, an adjustment audible on the subsequent single “Fireball,” which adopted a mellower, more conventional rock approach. Before Reflecter appeared, Clough departed to attend university, an album that solidified the group’s revised musical path.
Libertine benefited from wider distribution through Beggars Banquet Records, where the addition of drummer and keyboardist Craig Adrienne expanded the ensemble’s sonic palette. Ramon, Adrienne, and Jake Honeywell on bass and percussion then cut a second Beggars Banquet release, Acid Yantra, whose title drew inspiration from a D.A. Levey poem; the record received its customary avid reception from devoted followers and garnered favorable attention from mainstream critics. Throughout the 2010s the band kept recording and released archival or compilation projects such as Shards of God, Processed for DNA: Anthology 1990-2010, and Return Journey: The Lost Second Album Session 1991. Ramon has also operated his own imprints, Acme, which focuses on psych rock, and Psi-Fi, devoted to Krautrock rarities.
