The 60's Psych Thread

[Mojo]

Always good to see an American teenager reviewing The Animals

Good stuff.

[Molecules]

The Mops - Psychedelic Sounds In Japan (1968)
link

Here we have an album that at it's worst is a historical curio and a comedy album, at it's best - a highly enjoyable psychedelic romp.
The Mops were, from what I've heard, the rawest and weirdest of Japan's sanitized 'Group Sounds' era. Group Sounds was a fusion of Western rock and Japanese popular music - which for the most part was melodramatic tripe - that was pretty much all manufactured with creative control going to the record executives.

As with most Group Sounds bands they began as a Ventures-esque instrumental rock group, before taking on the mantle of drug-influenced rock music emanating from overseas to become Japan's first psychedelic band. This was not the idea of the Yardbirds/Stones-influenced band of course, it was the Mops' management who molded them into hippies as stipulated in their new record contract (see album cover).

However LSD was impossible to procure in Japan at the time and as well as putting on the most dazzling light shows to cement their psychedelic credentials (the other Group Sounds were catching on fast), the Mops would often resort to playing blindfolded to disorientate themselves!

So apart from being trippy dippy and lyrically darker than any Group Sounds band at the time (please kill me in the 6/8 time 'Blind Bird'), what does this alien interpretation of 60's vogue have to offer?
For a start I was surprised by the garage influence, there's a lot of fuzzboxed guitar and it certainly packs a wallop; and when the Mops are in full swing (playing their own songs) the production is great too: Masaru Hoshi's constant, twisting guitar solos coming from somewhere off in space and the band keeping a frenetic groove.

Not the best example here, they sound much better on record

All sounds good so far, non? But now I have to address the much-vaunted cover versions of psychedelic standards and the all-English vocals.
When the Mops are attacking these songs in their extremely bloken Engrish and their own inimitable style, it can work ('Somebody To Love' sounds great, singer/guitarist Yoshiro Hayakawa must have spent days getting the 'L' on 'love'); but the rest of the time you just can't help but giggle, and there are certainly a few comedy moments on the album such as the adorable 'San Franciscan Night'.
However there is an element of humour to the whole affair when listening to this strange record, being as it is a heartfelt tribute to/cash-in on a hugely self-indulgent Western pop style... just totally naive and a lot of fun. None of this would matter if the songs weren't great.

On the whole it's magnificently done, they manage to work in everything from harpsichords to a Misunderstood-style atmosphere of doom - but the failures are epic. See: the inept sitar racket of 'Unforgettable Memory' and the musically competent but laughable covers of 'White Rabbit' and 'Light My Fire'.
The pros far outweigh the cons though and it definitely belongs in your 60's collection. Watch this space for a high-quality share

Unfortunately when the album surfaced, Group Sounds was on it's last legs - Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin were beginning to catch the attention of Japanese youth.

The Mops were dropped

And this is where we leave our (magnificently named) heroes, who would cunningly move with the times and re-brand themselves 'New Rock'. It was left up to other, hairier bands to make history in this area...

3.9/5

[TheCellarTapes]

What to do about the Youth problem?

[TheCellarTapes]

Interesting review Moles, I bought volume two of a Japanese compilation a few months back looking at the garage bands from the country. Very enjoyable, some of the groups had a real gift for taking the best of British and mixing it with the best from America

[Molecules]

cheers man, i really hate this sucky review, but the album is a corker. that compilation looks juicy

I've seen that trailer before, the motives behind these productions always disgusted me. BEWARE DRUG-CRAZED YOUTH. got the standells were good

[Molecules]

Various Artists - Pebbles Vol. 2 (1979)
Download (donations to the usual address)

It's almost summer and the freakbeat is coming out to play...
There are already two reviews of Lenny Kaye's much-revered Nuggets compilation on MB, so if you can't guess where this is heading you probably haven't been paying much attention to the threads in question!

As with Nuggets, the Pebbles volumes are compilations of recovered mid-to-late sixties obscurities of the US proto-punk and garage-psychedelia variety - except the Pebbles bands were obscure even in their time...
The original line of LPs began in the late 70's and ran to 28 volumes, these were later repackaged as 11 CDs (accompanied by many a complaint about the lacklustre 'remastering').

It's true that the recordings vary in quality from the slightly hissy to the downright awful. But screw that, I'm offering a rip of the original 17-track vinyl; and anybody's who's familiar with the delightful, energetic spontaneity of these one-off teen groups of yesteryear will know that this doesn't matter a jot.

Of the Pebbles I have heard volume two is almost certainly my favourite, with almost every track having something to recommend it - you have speed-blues stompers, shot-away desert rock, piles of buzzsaw distortion and 60's effects and even a bit of Brit-style whimsy; but for the most part this is 60's garage-punk of the highest order.
It even has comedy value with a turn by the only well-known band featured here, the Electric Prunes, in a wah-wah pedal advert which really hammers home how long ago all this music was made.

Here's the near-flawless volume that started it all too, at some point you may hear another track bleeding into the mix, that's just how ramshackle this stuff is. But it's f*cking brilliant.

Fun fax:
- Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top was a member of the Moving Sidewalks
- Arthur Lee (he of Love fame) wrote 'Feathered Fish' for the Sons of Adam, as such it's probably the best track on here

4.4/5

Tracklisting:

1. The Satans - Makin' Deals
2. The Moving Sidewalks - 99th Floor
3. The Sons of Adam - Feathered Fish*
4. The Electric Prunes - Vox Wah-Wah Pedal Commercial*
5. The Road - You Rub Me the Wrong Way
6. The Lyrics - So What!
7. The Buddhas - Lost Innocence
8. The Zakary Thaks - Bad Girl*
9. Randy Alvey and Green Fuz - Green Fuzz
10. The Squires - Go Ahead
12. The Little Boy Blues - I Can Only Give You Everything
13. The Dovers - She's Gone*
14. Phil & the Frantics - I Must Run*
15. The Dovers - What Am I Going to Do
16. The Choir - It's Cold Outside*
17. Bobby Fuller - Wine Wine Wine#
18. The Litter - I'm a Man

* = essential tuneage
# = 'meh'

[Comus]

Originally Posted by jackhammer

Great review mate. I'm glad that between us we managed to grab the album. As you say it's just damn good no frills Rock music. I'm hoping Comus will give this a listen.

I've given this quite a few listens and I'd probably rate it a bit higher than 8/10, it's really been growing on me.

[Barabajagal]

Molecules, how do you feel about Pearls Before Swine? They're one of my favorite '60s psych bands. As opposed to lots of psych bands that wear their hearts on their drug-soaked sleeves, PBS is more dark and subtle, like there is an underlying schizophrenia or madness. The lisp definitely doesn't hurt matters.

The first Pearls song I heard and still one of my faves -

[jazzmaster]

Nazz Nazz should be in this thread... so here it is.



Originally intended as a double album titled Fungo Bat, Nazz Nazz is at once as equally diverse and more cohesive than the Nazz's eponymous debut. It's a weird trick, but the group pulls it off, largely due to the rapidly maturing talents of Todd Rundgren, their main songwriter and producer. Throughout the Nazz's first record, he proved that he was a gifted mimic and a savvy melodicist, yet he never quite landed upon a signature style outside of their debut single "Hello It's Me"/"Open My Eyes." Not coincidentally, these were the two songs on the record that the Nazz produced themselves, and they followed that lead on Nazz Nazz, fusing their sundry influences into a distinctive psych pop sound. Sonically, it's certainly more ambitious than its predecessor and, apart from the odd forays into soul and blues (filtered through Cream, naturally) on "Featherbedding Lover" and "Kiddie Boy," it's more consistent. In many ways, that makes Nazz Nazz a better listen than its predecessor, even if it doesn't have a knockout punch like "Open My Eyes." That's because Rundgren's songs exhibit a stronger sense of identity, as ballads like "Letters Don't Count" and snarky pop-rockers like "Hang On Paul" point the way toward his solo career. There are a few embarrassing detours, such as the hippie-dippy "Meridian Leeward," but the second Nazz record rivals the first because it offers a progression. It shows that the band, or at least Rundgren, have figured out how to blend their influences into something original. The Nazz may never have delivered a follow-up to this -- Nazz III consists of the remaining sessions from the abandoned double album -- but this is certainly ground zero for Rundgren's fascinating solo career. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

apparently i can't post links or urls til after 15 posts.. but look it up. It's amazing.

[NumberNineDream]

Great thread, 60's Psych is what i love best ... nice reviews.