DVD: Blue Cheer Rocks Europe

Label: Rainman Records

Released: June 26, 2009

There's a handful of bands out there whose influence has been felt far and wide decades after they made their mark, yet they never enjoyed significant commercial success. The Velvet Underground comes to mind. So does Nick Drake. There are others, but in heavy rock circles, one of these bands rises above all others - Blue Cheer. Unlike most members of this exclusive club though, Cheer continued to do their thing for over 40 years, even releasing a fine album recently, 2007's What Doesn't Kill You.

Blue Cheer Rocks Europe finds Dickie Peterson, Paul Whaley and "Duck" MacDonald (the "new guy" with only a little more than two decades of service) standing tall as they bring the sound they pioneered, and others have copied, to the stage. Ripping through material, new and old, they have both the energy of a hungry band and the tightness of a well-oiled machine. Peterson's voice is raw and passionate. MacDonald's riffs are heavy and grooving. Whaley's beats are driving end energetic. Although the video is a bit too sterile to fully capture it, it's easy to imagine the big dose of crazy that still permeates their show and it brings up the question of whether Blue Cheer might actually be better today than in their acknowledged prime. One thing is undeniable though: They still give the bands they influenced (some of whose members weren't even born when Cheer made rock heavy) something to shoot for. Just check out "Parchman Farm." I don't know if they could have done any better in 1967, when they first recorded it.

Sadly, this may be Blue Cheer's last document. Bassist, vocalist and founder of all that is heavy, Dickie Peterson, passed away on October 12, 2009. He once said, "We're more interested in the gig tomorrow night than being in the hall of fame." I suspect that making the music and seeing it blossom in other bands over the last 40 some years was the greatest reward for him. Rest in Peace, Dickie. Thanks for all the crazy tunes.

Rating: 9/10

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Review: Grant Hart - Hot Wax

Label:

Released: October 6, 2009

The progression of an artist from a seminal band to a solo career usually tells us more about the artist now that they're freed from the shackles of band unity (in whatever form it existed). What's interesting about Grant Hart's Hot Wax is that it tells us some things about him, but more of where he came from and how that fit into his own art, both in Hüsker Dü and on his own.

The album opens with "You're Not the Moon," perhaps the best psych garage piece I've ever heard. The mix of pop, psychelelia and proto-punk creates a wall of sound that prefigures Hüsker Dü's oh-so-listenable noise. The baroque pop of "Barbara," along with the strangely innocent darkness of the words, isolates a quality that he's incorporated into much of his music over the years. He dabbles in Bowie and Mott the Hoople-era glam ("School Buses are for Children" and "Narcissus, Narcissus") and fuzzy 60s pop ("Sailor Jack"). "California Zephyr" has the pop bombast of Neil Diamond without crossing the line into corny sentimentality. The understated cacophony and strong melodies of the soaring "My Regrets," a bit the inverse of Hüsker Dü, is not only a bold closer, but also a segue from this "prequel," so to speak, into what Hart has already done in his long career.

While Hot Wax is a view into Grant Hart's musical origins, it is not simply reliving the past, à la John Lennon's Rock N Roll. Hart employs the help of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and A Silver Mt Zion, two of rock's most forward thinking outfits. This isn't Hart replaying his younger days, but rather distilling his own music into its component parts. Not only does this illustrate where Hart's music came from, but also demonstrates both a love and deep understanding of his influences, such that he can make a record that returns to the past and pushes boldly into the future simultaneously.

Ratings
Satriani: 6/10
Zappa: 8/10
Dylan: 8/10
Aretha: 9/10
Overall: 9/10

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Review: Painted Willie - Mind Bowling (re-issue)

Label: DC-Jam Records

Released: July 17, 2009

SST Records was, if nothing else, a source of 80s musical madness. The label was somewhat diverse, but insanity was its consistency. While Hüsker Dü, the Meat Puppets and a few others moved on to major label semi-success, many of their bands burned up in the label's creative melee. Painted Willie was just such a band.

While Mind Bowling doesn't present essential listening for the general public, there are many out there who either missed it the first time or were too young when it went out of print or who sadly never owned a turntable (as it never made it to CD until now) that will appreciate it. The loose-to-the-point-of-near-deconsturction tunes meld mid-tempo, metally punk with the psych jams brought to the table by bands like Black Flag and the Meat Puppets. Along with other SST acts like DC3 and SWA, Painted Willie represent some of the earliest rumblings of what would later evolve into stoner rock. Mind Bowling will never have the broad impact of SST's upper echelon, but for those who want to dig a little deeper into underground rock's history, this re-issue is a fantastic opportunity to sample the madness.

Ratings
Satriani: 5/10
Zappa: 7/10
Dylan: 6/10
Aretha: 8/10
Overall: 7/10

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Review: 28 Degrees Taurus - How Do You Like Your Love?

Label: self-released

Released: 2008

William Blake divided his poems into Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience to reflect his view of the world before and after that crucial point at which the ugliness of the world becomes apparent. However, Blake left out that gray area in between as experience opens doors (the doors of perception perhaps?), but hasn't yet jaded the eyes and mind and heart.

Capturing both the darkness (check out the harshness of "Crash & Burn") and naiveté of the journey into the unknown gives this whole album the hippie-trippy sense of 60s psychedelia. While songs like "Freeze, Die, Come Back to Life" keep one foot firmly in that 60s haze, How Do You Like Your Love? musically falls more into line with the noise pop of My Bloody Valentine as well as the haunting, ethereal vocals and ambient textures of Lush. Like the echo-drenched voice(s) of "Endless Sea," it is at once both an ambling and persistent advance into a world whose deepening chaos is both frightening and enticing.

Ratings
Satriani: 6/10
Zappa: 7/10
Dylan: 6/10
Aretha: 7/10
Overall: 7/10

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Review: Love - Forever Changes (2008 Collector's Edition)

Label: Rhino

Released: April 22, 2008

Love is a second rate band, but at perhaps the creative peak of rock music. They existed at a time when the old marriage of R&B and C&W that was rock n roll was experimenting with a lot of new partners. Love was a part of that. At times, the result was brilliant, making it clear why no less than Jim Morrison found them inspirational during their sets on the Sunset Strip. But just as often, they floundered as they tried to push rock music to new levels.

1967's Forever Changes is in many ways a great snapshot of that period, precisely because it struggles. It isn't Sgt Pepper's or The Doors, but those records have become timeless with generation after generation discovering them anew. Forever Changes is an awkward album stuck in awkward time, giving it the appeal of primary source material rather than being reinterpreted over time. Does that make it essential? No, not for the casual listener. However, for those who want a less rosy glimpse of how rock music got from Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry to Led Zeppelin and Queen, this album is perhaps the perfect document.

For every great track, there are a couple more that dabble too heavily in show tunes or force a good idea rather than let it take shape. All in all though, it's messy, but not too difficult to get through once or twice. It's not a classic, but does provide a perspective that the classics can not and therein lies its real value.

The 2008 Collector's Edition of Forever Changes is two disc set that includes the original album as well as an alternate mix and some outtakes. The alternate mix serves no real purpose. The album's value is more historic than artistic, so a new mix only amounts to filler. Some of the outtakes are interesting though, because they show the mindset of a band trying to push the limits.

Ratings
Satriani: 6/10
Zappa: 6/10
Dylan: 5/10
Aretha: 6/10
Overall: 6/10

If you're curious about my rating categories, read the description.

Review: Birds of Avalon - Bazaar Bazaar

Label: Volcom Entertainment

Released: May 22, 2007

If I were to write that Birds of Avalon mix grandiose prog, upbeat power pop and riffy psych and leave it at that, most people would scratch their heads and just assume that Bazaar Bazaar was an erratic affair that couldn't possibly find itself. That assumption seems like a good one, but it's flat out wrong. Birds of Avalon reminds us that prog doesn't have to be devoid of emotion and that pop doesn't have to be devoid of grandness. Surprisingly, the two aren't mutually exclusive and Birds of Avalon bring the them together along with an element of trippiness for good measure. It's no small feat, but Birds of Avalon do it with such ease that it doesn't even seem striking unless you think about it.

Rating: 8/10

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Review: Buffalo Killers - s/t

Label: Alive Natural Sound Records

Released: 2006

Formed out of the ashes their previous band, Thee Shams, which was limited to some extent by its love of the Stones, the Gabbard brothers find a much more expansive, heavier sound with Buffalo Killers. They dip generously into the heavy psychedelia of Cream and Hendrix and alternate that with a dose of the Allman Brothers' southern soul. Just a dash of the Beatles adds a hint of pop accessibility without tempering the heaviness or groove.

Buffalo Killers' debut is not about technical prowess (even though they're good players), but about free and wild expression. The rhythms aren't complex, the riffs aren't flashy and the vocals aren't dynamic. Whether playing heavy psych or garagey soul, the band as a whole shuns the pristine in favor of digging down and unleashing a power that pushes rather than punches. The whole is in fact greater than the sum of its parts.

Rating: 7/10

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Review: Chuck Dukowski Sextet - Reverse the Polarity

Label: Nice and Friendly Records

Released: October 16, 2007

Those with a superficial appreciation of Chuck Dukowski's old (and considerably more famous) band, Black Flag, will be rather shocked to hear his new material. However, anyone with a deeper understanding of Black Flag will see CD6 as a logical progression. Black Flag was, after all, essentially a psychedelic band. Not in the sense that they sounded like Sgt Pepper's or the Seeds even, but in the sense that they were mind-altering. And that is the very quality that persists in CD6.

Reverse the Polarity is a more cohesive affair than "Eat My Life," CD6's last release, but that does not come at the expense of its manic power. The rhythms run across rock, jazz and blues and along with Dukowski's fluid bass lines manage the album's energy while horns and the wild play of new guitarist Milo Gonzalez raise the stakes to a mind-bending level. Gonzalez may be the factor that really pushes this album to a new level. Not only are his trippy riffs deceptively strong, but he also brings a consistency that gives the album better flow than their first album. The really striking thing about CD6 though is Lora Norton's voice. Her rich, dynamic voice is both sultry and frenzied and it's so striking that it makes the music more accessible without leveling its emotional peaks.

CD6 has created quite a masterpiece of real psychedelia. Its sense of abandon drives it to the edges of sanity, yet it is grounded in a simplicity that reflects the DIY punk ethic out of which it has grown. There are plenty of bands that are tapping old psyche energy, but none are able to truly capture that spirit and release it in a current sound in the way CD6 has.

Rating: 8/10

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Review: Blue Cheer - What Doesn't Kill You...

Label: Rainman Records

Released: August 21, 2007

Most people probably fall into one of two camps regarding their expectations for Blue Cheer's latest album, What Doesn't Kill You: One group expects this album, featuring 2/3 of the Vincebus Eruptum lineup, to be an amazing return to past form, proving that Blue Cheer is as vital today amongst their stoner rock devotees as they were in 1968. The other group expects this, their first album since 1991 (first in the US since 1984), to be just another in a sporadic run of attempts to relive past glory. The truth is that neither is correct.

What Doesn't Kill You does stick largely to what Blue Cheer always did best, slow, heavy, psychedelic grooves. Their mind-altering power doesn't burn quite as brightly as it once did (although the lyrics imply that it is not for lack of drug use) and by and large the new album takes a bluesier turn without abandoning all of their fuzzed out thunder. The opening track is a bit of a shock initially, sounding as though they had spent some part of the last few years listening to Motorhead, but it turns out to be an anomaly. "Young Lions in Paradise," their take on a rock ballad is the album's only misfire, but even there they achieve some degree of heaviness.

For those expecting Vincebus Eruptum, this album won't measure up, but for those fearing a disaster, this will be more than just a pleasant surprise. Blue Cheer does fail to match their past, but in trying they show why they're still imitated almost 40 years later.

Rating: 7/10

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For another opinion on this one, check out the Heavy Metal Time Machine.

Review: St Phillip's Escalator - Endless Trip

Label: Living Eye

Released: 2006

Being a revivalist is a difficult task. How do you stay true to the past yet make it relevant in the present? The simple answer is...you rock! St Phillip's Escalator does just that.

There is no question where the heart of this Rochester, NY trio lies. St Phillip's Escalator brings 60s garage rock to you in a way that's authentic and fresh at the same time. From start to finish, Endless Trip is a nonstop assault of fuzzy guitars, loose rhythms and ghost-of-Keith-Moon drumming that captures both the naivety of the 60s and the headlong dash into losing its virginity. This is no small achievement for a band with 40 years of history and analysis between itself and those halcyon days they're recapturing. They take the sweet pop sense of the British Invasion on dark walk through the psychedelic blues.

Produced and engineered by Chesterfield Kings Andy Babiak and Greg Prevost, who know a thing or two about the garage rock revival, helps St Phillip's Escalator create the most vivid picture of the past since Redd Kross recorded Teen Babes from Monsanto. With neo-garage bands popping up everywhere over the last few years, St Phillip's Escalator is one of the few that present the format undistilled. Endless Trip isn't just a snapshot though. It's more like a time machine.

Rating: 8/10

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Cool cover of Pink Floyd's "Bike"

I found this link in a comment over at Imagine Echoes. A band called Mason Proper covered Pink Floyd's cult classic "Bike." Whether you love or hate the cover, it does do everything that a cover should. It's true enough to the original that the song is recognizable, yet the band clearly stamps it as their own. You can download the mp3 here.

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Review: Various Artists - Love is the Song We Sing

Label: Rhino

Released: September 18, 2007

There are a few points in rock n roll time and space where everything just comes together and something new is born. Memphis in the mid-50s gave us rock n roll. New York in the mid-70s gave us punk. Seattle in the early 90s gave us grunge. All of these local scenes were the birthplace of both a music and a culture that disseminated to the rest of us in different times and places. Another of these scenes was San Francisco in the late 60s, the source of all things hippie. Love Is the Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-1970 tries to capture that point on the space-time continuum in four CDs.

To be fair, it's an impossible task to express what happened in San Francisco in the late 60s in any number of CDs, but this set does a fair job of trying, perhaps as good a job as could be done. It's more than just the scene's greatest hits. It collects the big names, the unknowns and everything in between, running the gamut from the Dead, Jefferson Airplane and Janis Joplin through Blue Cheer and the Chocolate Watchband to bands I've never heard before. That makes for enough familiarity to hold it together, but enough unknown ground to keep it interesting. Best of all, it errs on the side of the lesser known bands, making it a far better education that it would have been had Rhino played it safe.

Rating: 7/10

Contest: Name the following band to win a copy of the single CD promo for Love Is the Song We Sing. Don't post the answer in the comments. Email the answer to me. I'll announce the winner on Monday, October 1.

Contest: Win a copy of the new two disc version of Pink Floyd's Piper at the Gates of Dawn

Over the years, Pink Floyd has done several entire movie soundtracks. Obviously, The Wall is one, but there were two others earlier in their career. Be the first to name the films as well as the Floyd albums that contain their soundtracks and I'll send you a copy of the CD in the mail!

Don't put your answer in the comments. Email it to me here. I'll announce the winner and the answers on Monday, September 24.

Check out the review.

Review: Pink Floyd - Piper at the Gates of Dawn (40th Anniversary Edition)

Label: Capitol-EMI (2 CD and 3 CD)

Released: September 4, 2007 (originally released August 5, 1967)

Piper at the Gates of Dawn is almost universally accepted as a great album. Certainly, "Astronomy Domine" is amazing in its own right. The three group compositions in the middle of the album are good, though somewhat underdeveloped, indicators of where Pink Floyd would be headed after Syd's departure. Otherwise, the album consists of Barrett compositions that are still firmly rooted in the British Invasion and baroque pop of the 60s. No doubt, they too give some inkling of the future and, dated as they are, still have a good deal of freak out quality to them, but had they not led to Meddle, to Dark Side of the Moon, to Wish You Were Here, they would likely have fallen into the pack of psychedelic experimentation that defined the time in which they were written. Don't get me wrong, Piper at the Gates of Dawn is a very good album and it should get extra points for laying the groundwork for Floyd's greatness to come, but it also has to be judged on its own to some degree, something that likely hasn't happened since Dark Side of the Moon changed the face of rock music less than six years after Piper's release.

As far as the re-issue is concerned, the only thing the new two disc edition gives you is the mono version of the album and new, poorly modified artwork (why would they do such a thing?) all for about $5 more give or take. However, there is also a limited three disc release that also includes all of Pink Floyd’s singles from 1967 (“Arnold Layne,” “See Emily Play,” and “Apples And Oranges”), the B-sides “Candy and a Current Bun” and “Paintbox,” as well as an exclusive edit of “Interstellar Overdrive,” (previously available only on an EP released in France) and the 1967 stereo version of “Apples And Oranges” (which is seeing the official light of day for the first time). If that isn't enough, it also comes with an eight page reproduction of one of Syd's notebooks (which either provides many insights into the mind of a drug-addled lunatic or is entirely incomprehensible, I'll bet on the latter). All in all though, it seems that while the two disc edition offers little other than added expense, the three disc edition provides some nice bonus material for the more serious Floyd fan.

Rating: 7/10

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If you're interested in winning a copy of the two disc set, check out my contest.

Review: Sly and the Family Stone - Greatest Hits

Label: Epic/Legacy

Released: 1970 (reissued August 28, 2007)

Released in 1970 to fill the gap between Stand! and There's a Riot Goin' On, Sly and the Family Stone's Greatest Hits compiles many of the top tracks from the band's early years. While every song on this album is also contained on the later Anthology release along with selections from their later catalog, this is in most ways a superior album.

In the interim between albums, Sly and company's early optimism began to fade alongside the idealism of the 60s and into Sly Stone's increasing drug problems. Because Anthology fails to mark that change, it feels haphazard, like a mere collection of random songs. Greatest Hits on the other hand shares the common themes of joy and optimism that characterize both the albums that these songs are drawn from as well as the times in which they were made. The only inexplicable omission is "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey" from Stand!, an album which contributes several other songs. I suspect that this was just a matter of playing it safe and avoiding controversy on an album that by design would appeal to less hardcore Sly Stone fans. It's a shame, because the song, like several others which use that very emotional word, is incendiary, but fighting the good fight, not perpetuating stereotypes. Oh yeah, it's amazingly powerful too. Its absence doesn't hurt this album, so much as knowing the song just makes me wish it had been included.

While it doesn't take into account the second part of Sly and the Family Stone's career, which produced great music in its own right, and it backs down from righteous controversy by omitting a great tune, Greatest Hits is an amazingly cohesive collection of songs from the first few years that the band graced us with their music. The only real argument against owning this is that you should already have the records from which this was culled. There isn't much of a step down from the singles to the album cuts and that's even more amazing still.

Rating: 9/10

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Review: Chesterfield Kings - Psychedelic Sunrise

Label: Wicked Cool Records

Release Date: September 18, 2007

The Chesterfield Kings get frequent comparisons to the Stones in their mid-60s prime. It's pretty accurate, because the they're a better Stones than the Stones have been in over 30 years. But it's also only a piece of the picture, because there are plenty of Stones knock-offs, but the Chesterfield Kings are so much more.

Psychedelic Sunrise certainly has a healthy dose of the early Rolling Stones throughout. Some tracks are pure Stones. "Spanish Sun" is painted pretty black and "Outtasite!" has "Gimme Shelter" written all over it. Most of the album isn't so blunt though, because the Kings dig a lot deeper into the 60s. "Streaks and Flashes" has all the soothing jangle of the Byrds, albeit without the sweet harmonies. They channel Syd Barrett on "Elevator Ride." "Inside Looking Out" dabbles in the baroque pop of the Left Banke. They fast forward just a bit to the early 70s with the glam-influenced "Up and Down" and finish up by borrowing just a bit of Alice Cooper's prime on "Yesterday's Sorrows" and "Dawn." Most impressive of all is the opening track though. "Sunrise (Turn On)" is what the Moody Blues would have sounded like had they actually rocked!

It may sound like Pysychedelic Sunrise suffers from multiple personalities and struggles to find itself. Nothing could be further from the truth. It takes a lot of what was good about the sixties and distills it into a new sound. The Chesterfield Kings will save you from wearing out your old, fragile vinyl, because they'll give you just about everything you want in a brand new package.

Rating: 8/10

Myspace: Birds of Maya

In response to Myspace's generic "sounds like" field, Birds of Maya state that they sound like "like a gg allin demo played through a megaphone." It's a fair description and it's certainly colorful, but it leaves out an awful lot. If they really sounded like dear-departed GG, I wouldn't be writing about them. They are loud and they are chaotic, but they have way more groove than GG Allin ever imagined.

"Porch Dude" sounds like it was probably recorded live. It gives a good idea of the sheer power emanating from the speakers, but loud alone doesn't make great music and it's hard to get much out of this one beyond hints of what might have been had the song's structure been better captured along with its volume. "Killer in the Snow" is Dark Side of the Moon by comparison. It's still a cacophonous mess, but it captures just the right amount of the song itself and mixes it with the unabated energy of the performance, creating a near perfect track that is so bluntly heavy that Blue Cheer might put in ear plugs. Still, the song moves along with a slow undeniable groove. It fades at the end, begging the question, "What else did it have to offer?" "Traveller" suffers from the same problems as "Porch Dude," but some of the manic guitar work still manages to come through and it is worth hearing even if the song struggles to rise above the poor recording. Low recording levels and bad mixing aren't enough to stop "Sleepwalker" though. The heavy groove soldiers on and feels like it'll smash your eardrums to bits even if you turn it way down.

Birds of Maya do have a bit of GG Allin in them, but more importantly they have a lot of Blue Cheer and the MC5 in them as well. Even those bands might be given a moments' pause at Birds of Maya. They have a full-length album coming in a few months on Holy Mountain and one can only hope that they don't rein in any of this power in the studio.

Review: Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound - Ekranoplan

Label: Tee Pee Records

Released: March 20, 2007

I don’t take drugs and because of that, I believe I am much more discerning about my psychedelic music. It isn’t an accompaniment to my trip, it is my trip. From the space rock explosion that opens Ekranoplan, across its mind-altering landscapes and through its soul-inflected finale, this is a tour de force of trippiness. Assemble Head is heavy when they need to be, yet delicate at all the right moments, choreographing 38 minutes of another world altogether.

They jump right into the trip with the overdriven power chords and echoey vocals. Cooking it up with spacey organ and electronics, it puts the mind in the perfect state, teetering between totally mellow and completely freaked out. Over the course of the trip, heavy space rock is mixed with surf, blues, soul, jazz and classical. The result is an album that alternates between blunt heaviness and delicate touches. Sometimes it pushes, sometimes it carries, but constantly it moves. Driven by the psychedlic power of guitar and organ, baked vocals and a rhythm section that controls the ride, Ekranoplan is more of an experience than simply an album. With this one, there's no need for any drugs but the music. If you need anything else, you’re not listening. It takes us down the mind-bending road from which the greatness of Dark Side of the Moon detoured us, but that still begs to be traveled.

Rating: 8/10

Myspace: Mike Kelly

I found Mike Kelly on a Myspace bulletin from none other than Mike Watt. I thought with that kinda recommendation he desrved at least a listen. Let me first offer Mike's own disclaimer, because it's a good one and something you should know going in. He writes of his songs, "ALL WERE RECORDED IN FIRST TAKE,IN ORDER TO CAPTURE THE ESSENCE OF THE SONG,INSTEAD OF WASHING IT AWAY IN PERFECTION.IM SORRY IF IT SOUNDS ALITTLE ROUGH AROUND THE EDGES, BUT IM DOING IT ALL MYSELF,,TRYING NOT TO FORGET IDEAS AND TRYING TO CATCH INSPIRATION WHEN IT COMES." Rough around the edges might be a bit of an understatement, but he is warning you ahead of time not to expect Dark Side of the Moon or anything in terms of production. Fair warning, no problem. If you can deal with what are essentially the ultimate in DIY recordings (written, performed, recorded by Mike himself) and get over the sheer rawness of these songs, you might be in for a treat. If you can't, I suspect he doesn't really want you visiting anyway, because his music isn't about being slick or smooth or easy. It's about spontenaity and challenge and a good psyche out.

Right now, Mike has four songs up on his myspace page. "Can I" is an acoustic piece with rough vocals. Echoey backing vocals lurk in the background and some trippy guitar noodling rises and falls. It's a pretty freaky track that reminds me a bit of some alumni of the old Enigma Records like the Rain Parade or Jet Black Berries. "Croaxias Inadvert" is another acoustic song that starts off a bit in a Syd Barrett vein, but chanting vocals make it a bit more Eastern as it goes. This one doesn't really get going though, making it the weakest of the four. Getting away from the acoustic, "Hopeonarope Wesp" is domiated by raw, phased and distorted guitar. It's not a complex song, but the subdued wail of Mike's vocals give it nice dimension. It reminds me a lot of the trippier side of 80s punk and alternative, like Wurm or the Enigma stuff I mentioned above. "The Place is You" comes close to being the best of the four songs, but the structure breaks down a bit in the middle. It comes back around, but there's a bit much going on which leads to confusion more than just a listening challenge. I think it's more of a production issue though.

Mike Kelly is a raw musician. Both his playing and singing could use a little bit of refiniement and the production is more what you'd expect from a recording of ideas than even a demo (as he warns us on his page). However, there's a lot of real potential here. The songs have a decidely psychedelic quality and display real passion. Even if he cleans everything up, Mike isn't playing the kind of stuff that will light up the charts, but I say too bad for the masses, because they're missing out. As it stands, I like what he's doing, in spite of (or perhaps because of) the lumps.

Review: The Things - Major Bailey's Menagerie

Label: self-released; available through CDBaby

Released: 2004

I bought this at the same time that I picked up the Charms' So Pretty from CD Baby. There was a "buy three CDs and get them for $5 each" sale and I had two already, so pretty much got this one for free. The Things are a Baltimore garage rock band, so I thought I'd give a local band some support.

Major Bailey's Menagerie has some of the makings of a very good garage album. The music is raw and a bit sloppy. The rhythm section is competent, but more importantly, enthusiastic. The guitar is loud, chunky and dirty. While the vocals often have a second-rate Grace Slick quality, at least they're stealing from something a little off the beaten path. The band does mix things up with some slower, mellower tracks among the generally unbridled energy that runs through the album. The Things also capture the dark feel of 60s underground psyche and they pull off a fair cover of the Sonics classic "The Witch.".

The trouble with this album is that it is strictly rehashing something that's already been done. It isn't influenced by the garage/psyche/pre-punk bands of yesterday, it is a re-enactment and, even though it's a decent one, it doesn't really stand up well on its own. The one really significant difference between Major Bailey's Menagerie and its predecessors is that the production was probably a little better back then.

I doubt I'd pick up another album from the Things, but based on the energy on this one, I suspect they'd be worth checking out live. Perhaps in that setting, they could conjure up the past even if it isn't theirs.

Rating: 5/10