The Electric Prunes - 'Underground' Album Review

The 'Leccy Prunes! Another awesome group featured on Nuggets (which commences with their psych classic 'I Had too much to Dream Last Night') and in many ways not as purely 'garagey' as the other units I've covered so far. Rather than playing three-chord wonders or repeating the same riff over the course of THREE albums (I'm looking at you Seeds though I still love ya!), the Prunes utilised layers of fuzzed out effects and inventive arrangements that give their tracks a level of complexity and weirdness that remains unrivalled aside from the most far out psychedelic groups of the day. The group originally consisted of lead singer/autoharp player James Lowe, lead guitarist Ken Williams, rhythm layer James Spagnola, bass player Mark Tulin and drummer Preston Ritter, all of which contributed to their album track arrangements collaboratively (although early on many tunes were written by outside writing team Tucker/Mantz). On their first album (named after 'Too much to Dream), the band confidently made their mark in the psych garage field, with great tracks like 'Bangles' and 'Get me to the world on Time' proving their ability to twist and enhance outside material to an almost unrecognizable form. However, the collection was held back somewhat by a couple of filler numbers like the cutesy 'Toonerville Trolley' and the wimpy 'King is in the Counting House' (20's vaudeville and renaissance folk pastiches respectively). 

By the time of their second album 'Underground' however, the group began to get REAL WEIRD. We open with 'The Great Banana Hoax' (what a great title!), all pounding and grooving with slinky guitar and organ lines filling out Lowe's simultaneously wacked out and blissed out vocal. The fuzz solo in the middle is the icing on this proverbial cake, kicking us into a Beck era Yardbirds rave up near the end, so cool. 'Children of Rain' is next, even weirder than before (and all the better for it). A dark fairy-tale that features exhilarating descending passages of fuzz bass and some kind of Theremin wig out effect near the end, this will knock you off your feet on a first listen! After that its 'Wind up Toys', another Lewis Carrol esque ditty that also serves as a commentary on the disposable nature of '60s pop stars, intelligent piece, with all sorts of grinding mechanical noises added with metallic guitars and cowbells accompanying it. 'Antique Doll' now, the third in a series of toy/childhood related pieces, very reminiscent of Syd Barret era Floyd. This one's probably the most bizzaro so far, with a chorus that descended into whirring pool of sound that absorbs the listener in its utter strangeness (bonus points for the vocoder screaming, these guys really want to seem like nutcases don't they?). The next track doesnt help that reputation, a country turnaround called 'It's not Fair'. Not the strongest track on the album, but pleasantly psychedelic enough to fit in. Its the next track though that I absolutely adore the most, 'I happen to love You' written by Goffin/King (yes, they of tin pan alley fame!). Coolness adorns this song to the max, another blissed/angry vocal of Lowe, moaning 'bout his unfaithful girlfriend. He's been 'dragged to the pit, thrown in it' but he 'happens to love you' regardless. More and more layers of fuzz, oscillating organ and wild screaming build up to the songs climax, ending on the first side on an absolutely epic garage rockin' note.

Side two, 'Dr Do-Good', hammer horror campness paired with tremolo fuzz, what's not to love! Love the bugs bunny/mad scientist stammering at the end, has to be heard to be believed. San Fran inspired blissed psych next with 'I', lyrics revolve around a tinker, tailor, solider style nursery rhyme and is penned by the brilliant Tucker/Mantz from their debut. Long track as well, perfect to chill to on summers' eve with your relaxant of choice... (Also, nice nick of the 'Taxman' bass line, not uncommon thievery for the time, not that I really care of course, it rules!). And then... BAM!!! 'Hideaway' hits in with its raga fuzz perfection, more tribal drum pounding like 'Banana Hoax' but a million times harder rockin', so cool. If you dig '66/'67 stones (who had the same producer in Dave Hssinger), then you will absolutely adore this track! Real change in pace afterwards, 'Big City' is kinda reminiscent of Mamas and Papas/Beach Boys sunshine pop but with some weird little quirks like the atonal opening that set it in a distinctly different world to those groups. Love the depiction of '67 urban hippie perfection, 'people crowding, laughin shouting... gettin what they need to liven up their minds', so groovy. Penultimate track, we're introduced to 'Captain Glory', sort of a swami figure for these boys it seems, 'thank goodness  Captain Glory got here in time', bit of Superman going on as well, interesting. Nice r&B groove to this one, probably the msot straightforward track on the album. 'Long Days Flight' closes out the proceedings in a brilliant garage stomper, complete with the characteristic tremolo fuzz and brill Lowe vocal, this is the band at its ballsy, psychedelic best, a truly amazing finish to this righteous collection of psych classics. Pick it up ASAP then work back to album 1, you will not be disappointed in the slightest.

The Seeds - 'A Web of Sound' Album Review

Another day, another Nuggets group, what were the chances! The Seeds were undoubtedly one of the most influential garage bands of all time, inspiring fellow west-coast groups such as The Doors and mid-western/east coast proto-punk acts like the Velvet Undergorund and Stooges with their unique brand of dark psychedelia. Members included wacko shamanistic front-man/bass player Sky Saxon, baroque influenced keyboardist Daryl Hooper and drummer Rick Andridge. After releasing a stunning (if a little one note) debut LP in early '66 containing the eternal 'Pushin too Hard', the group put out 'A Web of Sound', my personal favorite Seeds album. 

Kicking off with 'Mr. Farmer', we're welcomed with a pulsating bass line, spidery farfisa and semi-concealed lyrics concerning the eponymous farmer and his mysterious 'crops' (hmmmm, cabbages perhaps? I think not...). Within this first number we are submerged into the world of the Seeds; L.A of film noire and psychedelic excess, pop groups like The Turtles brushing shoulders with folk-rock ravers Love, clubs like Ciros' and Bido Litos providing entertainment on Sunset Strip, retreating to Laurel Canyon after a hard night of partying.... proto-hippie perfection. Moving on from that brief bit of gushing, we have 'Pictures and Designs', Tobacco Road/I'm a Man riffing evolving into Doors-like psych outbursts, Sky screaming that she's 'gone, gone, gone gone gone wooahhhh!!!', feckin cool stuff. 'Tripmaker' next, Highway 61 police whistle and heavy, almost metal riffs coliding with latin-esque electro keyboard from Mr. Hooper, Sky now exploding with a blend of admiration and fear for a wizard like dealer who stalks the streets 'searching for your darling, night and day' (Sky loved that phrase didn't he?). 'I tell Myself' slides in with psyched-up Buddy Holly and merseybeat harmonica, a strange shift but an exhilarating one, showing the groups teeny-bopper side. And then.... 'A Faded Picture', childhood memories of 'colored tears' and 'castles in the sky', beautiful, ethereal music quite unlike what we've heard so far. Hooper's solo at the songs midpoint gets me every time with its haunting, steely tone, just brilliant. Closing out Side One we have 'Rollin' Machine', probably the most lightweight piece on the album but cool nonetheless, Sky now ravin bout' his joint rollin' appliance/hippie bus mashup dependent on your interpretation. 'Get on, get on, ride with me!' indeed...

By this point you're probably expecting another six tunes in much the same vein, as with the groups' first album, but you'd be sorely mistaken. Side two is only two songs long for a start! (Admittedly one is 15 mins long...) Number one of two is 'Just Let Go', an invitation to once again enter the Seeds' hippie fantasy world.  Funky, psychy and generally GROOVY, this tune is a classic, a classic that precedes a rather controversial final track in 'Up in Her Room'. Much like their contemporaries' Long Playing efforts of the time, The Seeds delve headlong on this side into the extended jam, drawing comparisons to Love's 17 min long 'Revelations' (from 'Da Capo') and The Stones' 'Goin Home' ('Aftermath') amongst others. A slow build to a rushing climax - interlaced with reedy organ and dirty fuzz guitar - this tune is eerily similar to the Velvet's 'Sister Ray' that would emerge two years later in '68. To cap off this garage-psych novella of an album, Sky chants the title and variations of it for the song's duration, describing how he 'feels so good' and how his girl 'loves him so good', not the most complex expression of lust but does it need to be? Groove along to the rhythm section, let yourself go and have a blast, this is peak Seeds and therefore peak garage, simple as. A fantastic album by a fantastic group, a must buy for anyone remotely interested in where the Doors/Velvets/Stooges came from and the heights they were reaching for.