Another record bought on the recommendation of Volcanic Tongue’s excited twitterings (in the traditional, non-internet sense of the word…), this is a reissue of some long-lost 1971 album that – according to VT – contains ‘vocals that taste of jugs of PCP and long, almost oppressively intense, guitar-drenched paeans to personal exorcism’. Well I never. It’s also numbered, limited edition fans: my copy is #0194 of 1000.
With no recollection whatsoever of what this actually sounds like, I’ll give it a spin right now and note my thoughts.
Side One, Track One: ‘Sanc-Divided’… cor lumme if it’s not a relatively accurate Doors rip-off. All mysterious vocals and creeping basslines.
Side One, Track Two: ‘Come Out Of Her’… more of the same, with a bit of a Country Joe & The Fish ‘Bass Strings’-like swelling of sound thang going on. This sounds more 1969 than 1971 – maybe their acid hadn’t worn off yet. The vocals are impressively rasping, this gives me a sore throat listening to it.
Side One, Track Three: ‘Eye Of The Hurricane’… aha, now we’re in ’71 and we’ve gone all Black Sabbath/Led Zep. Epic!
Side Two, Track One: ‘Sons Come To Birth’… sounds like a long-lost Steppenwolf B-side.
Side Two, Track Two: ‘This Bird (Sky High)’… ooh, right back into the deep depths of Country Joe reverb and confused wonder. This is great, proper stoned hippy journey to the centre of the third eye music. They keep forgetting the groove they just got into and the song suddenly turns into something else (most often yet another shade of the work of the Doors).
So there you go. Glib, no? I’ve just summed up a band’s hard work and dedication there in only a few brief lines. I will listen to this record more though, now I’ve dug it out again – incredibly reminiscent of other bands it may be, but as I always say, it’s better to sound exactly like a great band than it is to sound a little bit like a crap band. (Actually, I’ve never said that before). This is music to smoke reefer, wear a fringed suede cowboy jacket, grow a zapata and find yourself in the Californian desert to.