Interview with SUGARFUNGUS

Initially getting together for a songwriting challenge over Zoom and evolving into a band, the Vancouver five-piece SUGARFUNGUS have recently released their debut EP Letting Go, Moving Still.  I recently talked to them about the band's formation, their EP, working remotely and now together in the same room and more.  

Can you give me a little history on how the band came together?

We came together as friends for a songwriting challenge that we would hold on zoom on Sundays during lockdowns in 2020/2021. We would each present and discuss a song idea. Then we’d collaborate and add onto each other's ideas until we had complete demos. We realized we have similar artistic visions and wanted to release the songs that would make “Letting Go, Moving Still”. The name SUGARFUNGUS comes from the anglicized translation of Saccharomyces yeast, which Jackson and Alex both study for their PhDs at the University of British Columbia. We joked that that would be a cool funk band name early on and it was weird enough to kind of stick. 

The band formed during the pandemic, so you wrote the songs on the EP remotely.  How was it working that way? 

It was great putting songwriting first and using production to sort of communicate some of the vibes early on. Sometimes it was a little slow to work asynchronously though. Some of the more difficult instances were inviting Ivan and Tess to the band. Bradan was friends with them but Alex and Jackson hadn’t met/heard either of them before, so we interviewed them over Zoom and sent them some of our demos to see what they would come up with. We had finalized our lineup in January 2021 and would meet once a week over Zoom to share ideas, but we didn’t meet in person as a full band until July.

I’m assuming you have been able to work together in the same room now.  Are you finding the creative process a lot different than when it was remote?

Totally! We now have regular rehearsals in person, but we still record and share ideas in a similar way as before. The nice thing now is that we can jam out the ideas in real time to see if they work. I think some songs really benefit from coming together quickly in a room and others kind of need to marinate a little longer. 

I love the sound of “Catch and Release”.  On the surface it has a dreampop sound, but underneath there is that pulsing bass and some cool synth sections that have an 80’s synthpop feel.  Can you tell me a little about that song?

Thanks! We never really sat down and defined a genre for this project so the resulting songs come from our eclectic influences and the mutations that occur during collaboration. We definitely love dreampop but also like new wave and disco/dance as well. The song was originally written on a bass guitar so maybe that contributes to the feeling as well. 

“Contagious Love” has a really nice jazz vibe to it that kind of sets it apart a little from the other songs.  Was it intentional to try to change it up a little on that song or just something that happened?

For "Contagious Love" I based the groove on the sampled drums used in the first demo and to be honest I really wasn’t sure how I would translate it to the drums. Later in the first band rehearsal I didn’t prepare for it. I just wanted to get a feel with the band and the first thing I played just worked and the band liked it. I was happy it gave the right energy to the song and it would be a good contrast to the other electronic drum tracks. My experience playing jazz and American folk/country music definitely influenced the creative decision. The decision to use brushes and keep a steady groove with the kick drum. - Ivan

“Contagious Love” and “Play Dead” both appear to have live drums while the other tracks sound like they are programmed.  Is that the case and why did you go that route on those two?

It is absolutely the case! We felt creatively it served the songs that way and again we liked the contrast it would present. As our first EP, it’s more about introducing ourselves to an audience and hinting at our range and different directions we could go. 

While the songs on the EP are definitely not dance music, there is an underlying beat to them that will get people dancing.  Was that something you strived for?

Overall I added a lot of dance elements to the EP.  While producing and mixing the tracks I was making sure the kick drum and bass would drive the songs and synthesizers/guitars/percussion would only complement these core dance elements. It’s a balancing act with dynamic shaping plugins to make sure all the instruments are working together to make the song more accessible/dance like for anyone in a social setting (bar/lounge/club etc.) to enjoy and dance along! That was my vision. - Ivan

Have you been able to play live yet? 

We are playing our first show at the end of February and in March. Things are opening up here in Vancouver, so hopefully that means more opportunities for us in the coming months. 

What kind of plans do you have for promoting the EP and what can we expect from the band in 2022?

We’ll be playing live. We have a series of visualizers for each song on the EP that we’ve been releasing. I think we’re going to try to make our own music video at some point this year. We’re also in the early stages of writing and recording our next project. :)

Is there anything else you would like to share with readers?

You can listen to our EP “Letting Go, Moving Still” anywhere you can stream music or it is also available for purchase on Bandcamp (https://sugarfungus.bandcamp.com)

Stay healthy and try to learn something everyday. :)

(SUGARFUNGUS - Facebook)

The Rumjacks - Brass For Gold EP

Following last year’s Hestia, which featured the debut of new vocalist Mike Rivkees, The Rumjacks are back with a new EP, Brass For Gold.  The EP also marks the first time this lineup has been able to work together in person since Hestia was recorded during the pandemic, and also finds them expanding their sound a little.  They start things off on familiar ground with “Bounding Main”, an infectious blast of straight-up classic Celtic punk.  Next up are “Bloodsoaked In Chorus”, an infectious track that finds them meshing Celtic Punk with ska rhythms, and “One For The Road”, a great full-speed ahead Irish drinking song that is sure to get the crowds going.  Other highlights include “On A Somber Saturday” and “Blinding Flashes”, both of which maintain the Celtic flourishes but also adding some fresh new touches, with the former being a really nice, laid back, largely acoustic, tune with a rootsier vibe and the latter (and one of my favorite tracks here) having a bit of a country-tinged punk sound.  Closing out the EP is probably the best tune here, “Falling Back”, an upbeat singalong that’s fairly reminiscent of The Pogues.   Brass For Gold is a great EP that shows a promising new direction for the band, while still maintaining what got them here.    

(The Rumjacks)

 

Interview with Kar

Italian three-piece Kar have just released a great debut EP of classic hard rock with a bit of stoner and southern rock thrown into the mix.  I recently interviewed vocalist and bassist Matteo Bellesi about the EP, delays from Covid, their new video and more.  

Can you give me a little background on the band?

Kar was born in 2017 from an idea of Matteo Bellesi (voice, Bass) and Tommaso Palma (guitar).  Shortly after, drummer Filippo Baldi joined them, completing the formation; the band's aim is to produce straight, simple rock’n’roll, ready to be danced, sung along, enjoyed at all levels…of course the words “simple” and “rock’n’roll” doesn’t always go together well, in fact the project is a mixture of hard rock, blues, southern rock and stoner, in our EP (Kar) you can listen to a lot of those influences across the tracks.

 

I was looking at some of your older posts and it looks like you were initially called QAR. Why the name change?

It’s a funny story actually: at the time the project was started we were strongly infatuated by the pirate world imaginary, that didn’t affect directly our style or the lyrics, but we decided to call ourselves “QAR”, that stands for “Queen Anne’s Revenge” (Pirate Blackbeard ship’s name). Unfortunately, we quite immediately stumbled into Italian pronunciation issues, in fact the letter Q in our language is always followed by the U and pronounced like coo in the word cool, so people use to say “what’s the name of the band, is it Coo-AR?" So we decided to make it simple and universal, to change it into Kar. Kar is also a name that keeps the straightness and shortness of the old one which we liked, recalling too the word "car" and the imaginary of travel and adventure with it. 

 

How does your songwriting process tend to work?

There is always someone who brings material, sometimes a guitar riff, so that we work it out together in rehearsals, but lately it happened more often that me (Matteo) or Tommaso brought in almost finished songs, in that case we give the band’s touch to it.  I usually write the lyrics, but not always (also Tommaso does) and Filippo is not only a great drummer, he cares a lot about choirs and details that usually turns out to be vital for the final shape of the song, he has a great taste in that matter. 

I love the song “Caesar”.  It has a really cool groove to it that sets it apart from the rest of the EP.  Can you tell me a little about that song?

Well you can say, listening to our EP, that most of the tracks are quite quick, aggressive, noisy ones (in a good way of course), until now it’s the most distinctive feature of our production, but sometimes a more classic rock feature comes out during the composition. That’s the case and we are very happy with that rhythmic, groovy, epic result…talking about the lyrics: it’s a quick overview of mankind, it basically says “do your best but don’t take others too seriously as well as yourself”, cause it’s all kind of a great show that no one is watching at and if you focus too much on pretending to be something, the risk is you’ll forget about who you really are.

 

You have a really fun video for the song “I Like Your Eyes” that has a storyline that is kind of a throwback to some of the metal videos of the 80’s.  Did the band come up with that idea?

Basically the intention was to create a great “80’s rock cliché” video clip, it seems we made it! We worked together with Simone Ducci, an old friend, videomaker and fellow musician from a concept the band had.  He was perfectly in line with that vision from the beginning and we had lots of fun filming the clip with other buddies in a brewery owned by Davide Bartolotti, a dear friend of us and rocker to the bone.

  

I saw some posts in late 2020 talking about the EP’s upcoming release.  Was the release delayed because of the pandemic?

Yes, of course the pandemic affected us just like all the musicians and performers around the world, the main issue was that we couldn't play live...and that, as you surely know, is a great problem for a young project like ours, that needs to arrive personally at people ears, to touch them, make them understand what we are and what we really do, and that's even more vital when it comes to promoting a new work.  Someone says that socials and the internet in general are more than enough to let your music spread across the world, but as every musician knows it is simply not true (unless you are already quite famous of course) so the EP as you've read, was finished in 2020, but we decided to wait for better times to reveal it and promote it.  Pandemic is not over yet, but we had the chance to play live and promote the songs on radio and so on...fingers crossed.

 

The band has been together for about five years now, but you’re just now releasing your debut EP.  Do you have a lot more songs ready to go and should we expect more stuff sooner than later?

 

Yes of course, the ones who came to our gigs already know, we have plenty of material.  Consider this: before the recordings of this EP, we had more than twenty finished songs, and during lockdown we wrote another thirty.  Not every one of them became a Kar song, but we surely are full of material ready to be shared from a stage and not before long in your headphones too

There are some older songs on your Bandcamp page.  Do you think we will be seeing newer versions of any of those?

Why not? We always use to say “if it is not engraved in stone you can work on it”, but some of those songs, we still like them that way.

 

Now that the EP is out what kind of plans do you have for promoting it?

Of course we are going to appear in several radio shows, and Volcano Records is doing a great job spreading word in and outside our country. The road for live performances in Italy has not been totally cleared yet and there are plenty of problems, so we are sailing on sight for that matter, but we will do our best!

 

Is there anything else you would like to share with readers?

We would like to thank everyone who will spend his time listening to our music, please, if you like what you heard, share it with your friends, we are in year 2022 but word of mouth is still the more powerful weapon for music to spread, join our pages on instagram, facebook and our youtube channel where you can watch the -I like your eyes” videoclip you mentioned earlier.  The EP is now streaming on Spotify, but soon we will have available the physical copy of the album in compact disc format.  All the art for the cover, etc. is created by the talented illustrator and graphic designer Mr. Pulp.  Thank you so much and rock on!!!

(Volcano Records / Kar - Facebook)

The Davey Johnstone Band - Deeper Than My Roots 

Almost fifty years after the 1973 release of his debut solo album, Davey Johnstone, Elton John’s longtime guitarist, has released his sophomore effort (actually credited to The Davey Johnstone Band).  Recorded during the hiatus of Elton John’s Farewell Tour caused by the pandemic, Deeper Than My Roots is largely a family affair with his son Elliot contributing lead vocals on most tracks, son Charlie singing, playing keys, writing and producing some songs, son Jesse playing drums on most of the album, son Tam co-writing and playing synths on the two instrumentals and daughter Juliet contributing the album cover concept and design.  In addition to his children, other contributors include his legendary bandmate Nigel Olsson playing drums on one track and former Wings Drummer Denny Seiwell on three.  The resulting album shows that the talent pool definitely runs deep in his family, containing a dozen well-crafted, highly enjoyable tunes full of strong hooks and melodies and plenty of great guitar work.  While there’s really not a bad track in the bunch some of the highlights include “Go Easy On My Heart”, a gentle, laid-back track highlighted by some great slide guitar work, “One Look In Your Eyes”, a hypnotic track with a psychedelic groove that’s really enhanced with Charlie’s keys, the beautiful, melancholy “Melting Snow”, the swirling psychedelic “Deeper” with its solid vocal harmonies from Nigel, Elliott, Davey, Vanessa Bryan and John Mahon (also a member of the Elton John Band) and a great guitar solo at the end, and the gorgeous “The Final Quarter”, which is nothing but Elliott on vocals and Davey on acoustic guitar.  The album also includes the aforementioned instrumentals, “Walt Dizney” and “Black Scotland”, a couple of really good tracks that really allow him to showcase his guitar work and even some sitar on the latter.  Closing out the disc are a couple of bonus songs with a nice cover of The Beatles’ “Here, There and Everywhere” and the gospel flavored “All The Time In The World”, a single he released in 2020 featuring Vanessa Bryan on vocals.  With Elton John being on his farewell tour, hopefully Davey and family will have more time to put out more great music like what’s on Deeper Than My Roots.

(Spirit Of Unicorn Music)

 

Interview with Onsloow

Initially known as Cora Sandel, this Norwegian band had a member change, a shift in sound and changed their name to Onsloow (actually Onslow at first, but more about that in the interview) and have now released an outstanding new release that is definitely an early frontrunner for one of my favorites this year.  I interviewed them about these changes, their new release, music in Norway and more.   

You released an EP a few years ago under the name Cora Sandel and then a Christmas song as Onslow and now you are Onsloow.  In addition to the name change there is a definite shift in your sound.  Can you give me a little background on the band history and that transition? 

The whole thing started as Morten Samdal took the initiative to ask us (the band), as all of us just happened to be on the exact same concert that faithful night, if we would be interested in playing in a band together. We all did, and Cora Sandel was formed. Just before our first gig ever, one of our members left the group due to peculiar circumstances. We were left in dire need of a person to help us through the crisis. THEN! Just out of nowhere, Mathias Nylenna appeared and kinda saved the day/gig. He didn’t plan on joining the band at first, but felt this was the right band to play in and joined in just as quick as he appeared. With a new member we also felt we needed a fresh start, again. Hence the new name and new sound. 

The majority of the songs have a really strong 90’s throwback sound to them.  I’m assuming everyone in the band was pretty young during the 90’s.  Where does that appreciation come from? 

We might just be a little older than you think, LOL, as the kids say! But yes, we are influenced by many genres and sound. But the 90s had a lot of good music, not that we are trying to copy that era. We just make the songs/sound that we feel the most.

Probably my favorite song is “Overthinking”.  To me that is a nearly perfect pop tune and the video just adds to its perfection. Can you tell me a little about that song? 

That is one of the first songs we made for the album. It's kind of self-explanatory due to the title of the song. Worry less, things most likely will turn out differently than what you think or fear. 

“Best Friend” is one of the songs that is a little different with a more dream pop sound.   What can you tell me about that song?

I guess you can say that song is our albums definitive love song, so we felt that song needed a slower, gazy, warm and feel-good vibe to it. Not just make a full high tempo indie/punk rock album.  

The closing cut “Webs and Destroyers” is completely different than the rest of the songs.  It’s more of a harder, straight-ahead rock song.  Can you tell me about that cut? 

That’s actually my personal favorite on the album. It started out as a pure “emo-hardcore” song. But as we worked on it, it just naturally turned in to different parts and landscapes and perfectly intertwined the way we wanted it. You get a little taste of the other side than the indie/pop genre we usually make. It’s also one of the funniest songs to play live, as it kicks off in your face. 

In the band credits there is no one credited with synths, but it sounds like there are some on a couple of the songs. Am I just mishearing or are they there? 

There is nothing wrong with your hearing. They are definitely there.  We haven’t got a Key-man yet, but maybe in the future.

Marius Ergo produced the album.  Can you tell me about him and how it was working with him? 

He is an absolute fantastic guy, with lots of tips and trix up his sleeve. And old friend of Mathias as they played in different bands together back in the days. Actually, he was the one who put on the synth tracks for us. Multitalented in many ways. 

How has covid impacted you and the release of the album?

I guess on the same level as the rest of the industry. Lots of plans had to be canceled. We have just tried to stay creative and write music during this time. We also got to focus on getting the album finished during this last two years. So not all bad. Hopefully we get to play some shows in the near future with the album out. And as we speak the future looks bright!  

I’m assuming the video for “Unstoppable” is an homage to Alanis Morrisette’s “Ironic” video.  Can you tell me a little about that and the alpacas? 

"Unstoppable" has always felt like the song you crank up on the stereo when out driving (cruising) and we also liked the idea and video "Ironic". So once again, you are quite right. The Alpacas were just adding a little spice to the ending and we implemented them again as we also did a photoshoot with the animals a couple of months earlier. 

I know some of you are in other bands in addition to Onsloow.  Can you tell me a little about those? 

We all come from different bands and have done lots of different genres. But Morten is the only one who actively plays in other bands as of right now. Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson, you could be a cop, and Morfar just to name a few. I recommend people to check them out 

Norway is definitely known for its metal music scene.  How are the other music scenes there? 

I would say the “Norwegian-country” scene is quite big in Norway. It’s a hillbilly genre which Is surprisingly big in Norway. 

With covid still having a huge impact on things what kind of plans do you have for promoting the release and what else can we expect from the band in 2022?

Hopefully Norway opens up on the restrictions tomorrow, which allows us to play as many shows as possible this year. We are planning a release party in the end of March, but are still finishing the final touches. Maybe a couple of festival. Everything is still under planning, but it looks very promising. 

Is there anything else you would like to share with readers?

We are already in the process of making new music for an upcoming EP.  

(Onsloow - Facebook)

  

Arrival - Friends – Complete Recordings 1969-1973

Although their career was fairly short-lived and they are nowhere near as well-known as they should be, over the course of five years, Arrival released a couple of really strong albums and had two hit singles in the UK.  Originally a five-piece vocal group from Liverpool known as The Excelles, the band went through some membership changes, moved to London, added three musicians (Tony O’Malley on keys and vocals, Don Hume on bass and Lloyd Courtenay on drums), to what was before then just four vocalists (Dyan Birch, Carroll Carter, Frank Collins and Paddy McHugh) and then released their eponymous debut album.

Opening up their debut on disc one is “Live”, a tune with a bit of a bounce, bursting with great choral vocals, really cool organ fills throughout and punctuated with some horns.  Next up are a couple of covers with “Light My Fire”, which in their hands is slower and more soulful and their biggest hit, Terry Reid’s “Friends” (hit number eight on UK charts), a very strong song with top-notch vocals and harmonies, beautiful string arrangements and solid piano.  The diversity of the release really kicks in over the next few songs.  “No Good Advice” is a 50’s sounding throwback with the quirky, squeak of Carroll Carter’s vocals adding to the charm, while “See The Lord” is a straight-up gospel tune and “Sit Down And Float” moves in a jazzier direction with a bit of a Fifth Dimension vibe and some really strong organ work throughout.  Among the other highlights are “Prove It”, a powerful tune, originally recorded by Aretha Franklin, with a bit of a soul groove that really showcases the strong vocals and has a great string arrangement, “Not Right Now”, a stripped-down folk tune kind of reminiscent of Fairport Convention and “Hard Road”, a bluesy rocker with some good honky tonk piano and more solid string arrangements. Closing out the first disc are five bonus cuts starting off with the band’s other hit single “I Will Survive”.  Unfortunately for me, even though it hit number sixteen on the UK charts, this track is a little too over the top with its big production, choral vocals and strings.  Next up is “Jun (So In Love)”, a really catchy, early 70’s sounding pop tune that was originally only released as a single in Japan and the powerful “Be You”, a slow burning soulful, blues track with some stellar piano work.  The last two bonus tracks are covers of Leonard Cohen’s “Hey That’s No Way To Say Goodbye” and Melanie’s “Lay Down”, the latter of which not only showcases their harmonies, but also gives them all a chance to shine individually. 

With the less than stellar sales of their debut the band went through quite a few changes for their second album including a label change and vocalist Carroll Carter leaving the band along with both members of the rhythm section who were replaced with a new bassist and drummer along with a guitarist.  For the most part. the resulting sophomore effort (also self-titled) didn’t stray too far from the sound of the debut, but at times found them shifting it somewhat.  Opening up the disc is “Glory Be”, a powerful gospel tune that, while having a strong piano accompaniment throughout, also gives the first real sign of the change in their sound with the presence of a guitarist.  “So It Is Written” is a gorgeous ballad that really highlights the strength of Birch’s vocals, while “Not Gonna Worry” is an upbeat bluesy rocker. ”You, Love And Me” is an interesting cut that’s primarily moody keys and strings meshing with vocal harmonies, and brings us to the song that to me is the highlight of the band’s career.  Originally recorded by Patti Austin, “Family Tree” is a powerful bluesy tune that gets it all right, with a stellar vocals from Birch, that shows just how incredible a vocalist she was.  Next up are a “Part Of My Dream” and “Not Preconceived”, a couple of songs that find them delving into folk again, with the first one reminiscent of Fairport Convention and that second doing some interesting things instrumentally with the addition of flute and what sounds like bongos for percussion.  “Have A Drink On Your Father” finds the band delving in a more country direction with some rollicking piano throughout along with some slide guitar, while “Understanding” is a bluesy barnstormer of a track clocking in at just over seven and a half minutes.  Closing out the album is the slower soulful “Weary Sad, Weary Down”.   In between their two albums, and after the departure of three members, the band released a single as a four-piece, which comprises the first two of five bonus tracks on the second disc.  “(Let My Life Be Your) Love” is a great Jimmy Webb cover once again showcasing Birch’s powerful vocals alongside outstanding harmonies and strings, while the flipside “Out of Desperation” is an interesting change for them with its funky beat and more of a dance groove.  Next up are couple more single tracks with their cover of the theme to the Neil Simon movie The Heartbreak Kid, which is a nice pop tune with a little country flavored guitar work, but not really anything special and “Sweet Summer”, a really good song with a laid-back psychedelic vibe.  The last bonus cut is a solid cover of Stevie Wonder’s “He’s Misstra Know-It-All”. 

The third disc in the box set is a real treat with eleven previously unreleased tracks recorded for the BBC in 1969 and 1970.  While the studio versions of most of these songs can be found here, there are two covers that only appear on this disc in great versions of “I Knew What You Were Up To” (originally recorded by Dionne Warwick) and “World Of Darkness” (originally recorded by David Ruffin).  It is also interesting to hear these rawer versions and really hear just how good this band was. Rounding things out is a twenty page booklet detailing the band’s history along with pics of memorabilia making this a box set and band well worth discovering. 

(Strawberry)

Complex - Live For The Minute: The Complex Anthology 

While there are a lot of great obscure bands that end up with box sets devoted to their careers, most were not as obscure as Complex.  Live For The Minute: The Complex Anthology is an outstanding three-disc collection from a band that over their career from 1968 to 1978 only released one single and two extremely rare albums that each had pressings of 99 copies (pressings of under one hundred discs avoided the need to pay any Purchase Tax).  They sent copies to record companies and places to potentially book shows and then whatever was left they sold at shows for one pound sterling.  The discs ended up becoming much in demand and in 2015 a copy of the debut sold on eBay for £10,000.  Not only does this box set give everyone the chance to hear these incredible releases there are also twenty-six bonus tracks consisting of everything from alternate versions and demos to a previously unreleased acetate recorded in March of 1972 and some previously unreleased songs recorded from 1976 to 1978.

Formed in the town of Blackpool in Lancashire, England, the band was initially comprised of Brian Lee (guitar), Tony Fisher (rhythm guitar), Lance Fogg (bass) and Tony Shakespeare (lead vocals and drums).  Not long after the band’s formation Fisher decided to leave the band, but his replacement only lasted a short while and he returned to the band briefly before joining the Army and being replaced by Steve Coe, who not only brought with him some great songs he had co-written with a friend of his named Bob Mitchell, but also ended up really giving them a distinctive sound since he played organ instead of guitar (he actually only played piano when joining the band, but then he and his mother purchased an organ for him to play).  First up on disc one is the elusive eponymous debut.  Starting things off is "Funny Feeling", which opens with Coe’s distinctively unique organ before leading into a very infectious, sunshine-y pop tune with just a hint of psychedelia.  The pop continues on the next track, "Message From The Year 2000", a pretty, more laid-back tune driven by organ and acoustic guitars.  At this point the band shifts gear several times, first with "Green-Eyed Lucy", an awesome rocker with a bit of a funk undertone with more killer organ and guitar work, then with "Josie", an organ driven ska flavored tune, and then onto "Witch's Spell", an all-out acid rocker with even more great guitar solos and the ever-present organ.  Other highlights here are the darker sounds of "Self-Declaration", often very reminiscent of The Doors, especially the organ fills, which are quite different than elsewhere on the album, "Storm On Way", a track that takes us back to the upbeat pop that started the album off and "Mademoiselle Jackie", a slower, kinda folky baroque pop tune.  Closing out the debut is "Live For The Minute", an excellent slow burning, bluesy rocker with another dose of stellar guitar work throughout.  Also included on disc one are five bonus tracks starting with two tracks recorded before the debut in July 1970 for an acetate-only single containing a cover of Joe South’s “Hush”, which is not so different from the recently released version from Deep Purple and an alternate version of “Images Blue” that is a bit slower than the one on the album.  The remaining three are an alternate versions of the album track “Norwegian Butterfly” and an alternate version as well as a demo version of “Green-Eyed Lucy”.  While the hope of label interest was dashed when they received no feedback at all it should be noted that while the music itself was great, the quality of pressing ended up being extremely poor.  A friend had told them about a pressing plant in Scotland that had very good rates, so they sent the tapes there to be pressed, but when they got the pressings back it was obvious that the rates were good because they didn’t know what they were doing.  The volume had to be turned up to three times the normal level and when that was done the hissing, crackling and popping of the vinyl really stood out.   

Even though the results of their debut release didn’t turn out the way they had hoped the band pressed on with plans to record their second album.  As with the debut, their second disc The Way We Feel opens with another infectious bubblegum pop track in "Every Time I Hear That Song".  "Am I" starts with a Small Faces like piano that evolves into a nice slow burning, laid back soulful rocker, while "We Don't Exist" is a bit of a dance flavored tune with a sprightly bouncing organ throughout that’s complemented with a funky bottom end.  The next cut "Lemon Pie Fair" is a decent little psychedelic pop tune and "The Way I Feel" is an extremely bouncy pop tune driven by hooky organ passages similar in vibe to the Tremeloes that to me is the catchiest tune they ever released.  "Moving Moor" is a very interesting instrumental that really showcases the guitar and keys with some really catchy pop hooks and a bit of a prog vibe.  Next is one of the weaker cuts in the somewhat generic ballad "Jeananette" followed by the upbeat pop sounds of "Hey Girl You've Got Style".  Closing out the album is the six and a half minute rocker "If You Are My Love", which starts with a ripping guitar solo entwined with the organ and evolves in a bit of a jam with the guitar and organ continuing to wind around each other.   A couple more bonus tracks are included on this disc with an alternate version of "The Way I Feel" as well as an alternate version of “Moving Moor” on which the organ is a little softer making it more appealing than the album version.  Unfortunately for the band this album still didn’t really do anything to further their career.  Making matters worse, at this point Steve Coe decided to leave the band to study music at a teacher training college in London.  This was a major blow to the band as they not only lost their organist (although they did replace him with keyboardist and classically-trained musician Mike Proctor), but they also lost their main songwriter.

This takes us to the final disc in the set, which with the exception of the two tracks released as a single, are all previously unreleased.  First up are five tracks from a 10” acetate the band recorded in March 1972 at Radio Blackburn, and the only recordings with Proctor.  The influence of Proctor is immediately evident on the two songs on side one with "No Title (We Don't Know Yet)", a very good eight-and-a-half-minute long tune that is pretty much straight-up prog rock with the ever-present organ now replaced with keys, and the just over six minute "To Make You See Me", a solid classic rock tune with some really nice instrumental passages that again showcase their solid musicianship.  On the flipside the band decided to record three fairly diverse cover versions of recent hit songs – Redbone’s "The Witch Queen Of New Orleans", which has a bit of a funk groove, Jimmy Webb’s “By The Time I Get To Phoenix” and Isaac Hayes’ “Theme From Shaft”, both of which are enhanced nicely with the organ.  A little over a year after these recordings, Proctor was replaced by Keith Shackleford, who joined the band after Brian Lee and his mother were discussing Proctor’s departure in the launderette their family owned and she just so happened to ask the next customer through the door if he happened to play keyboard and he said, “Yes I do, actually!”  He then left his current band Bitter Harvest and joined Complex. At this point the band got the attention of music publishers/management company Honest Injun, who were impressed with “Moving Moor” from The Way We Feel and had them audition by recording new takes of that song and “We Don’t Exist” (also from The Way We Feel), as well as “Teenybopper Joe”, a new song and the first contribution from Shakespeare.  While the two re-recordings don’t really add anything new to the original versions, the new cut is a catchy pop tune with a hint of glam.  Unfortunately for the band, Honest Injun ended up wanting to sign the songwriter instead of the group, which resulted in Coe getting a publishing deal.  At this point the band decided to move in a more mainstream pop direction which didn’t sit well with Fogg, who then left the band to be replaced by Dave Yardley.  The band  also signed on with a new manager, Johnny Burton, and recorded "Smiley Anne", another hooky, glam-tinged pop tune which led to them getting a deal with Pye Records.  They intended on releasing that as a single, but instead the single consisted of "Who Got The Love" and "She Turns Me On", a couple of generic Seventies sounding pop tunes that are quite possibly the worst songs of their career.  They also recorded "Down To The City" at the same time, another previously unreleased song included here that is definitely better than the two single cuts, with a bit of a rock edge, but still has its foot planted too far in Seventies pop schlock.  Closing out disc three are six previously unreleased songs recorded between 1976 and 1978. The first four of these find the band moving back in a more rock direction.  "Jubilee" throws in a bit of glam, while "Who Do You Think I Am" and "Cruel Woman" are more straightforward with plenty of hooks and lots of great guitar work.  "The Crack" is a strong and very interesting song with a really fun vibe to it mixing hard rock with some prog and the last two, "Susie My Friend" and "Dial 999", are a couple of really catchy songs that find the band moving in a bit of a quirky new wave direction.  

Grapefruit has done an outstanding job of compiling all these tracks into a great package with a booklet that documents the band's history and include lots of pics and memorabilia and now makes this hard to find music and so much more available to everyone.  

(Grapefruit)

The Drowns - Know Who You Are 7"

On their latest 7” Seattle’s The Drowns pay tribute to one of their top influences, Slade, with a cover of their song “Know Who You Are”.  While they do stay somewhat faithful to the arrangement of the original, they give it a bit of a punch and a little more bite resulting in a very catchy, straight-up rocker.  With the sound of a cowbell leading the way “Guidelines of Control”, the original on the flipside is another great cut that also finds them shifting a little away from their usual punk rock for sound that is more in the classic rock vein.   

(Pirate's Press Records)

Warzaw - Black Magic Satellite

Following hot on the heels of their outstanding debut album, which was released at the beginning of 2021, Norway’s Warzaw is back with their follow-up Black Magic Satellite.  Once again they’ve done a fantastic job of churning out eleven cuts of gritty 80’s-styled metal overflowing with crunchy guitar riffs, a bit of glam and punk, and tons of hooks.  The band sets the pace right out the gate with the double shot, high energy blasts of “Santa Mira” and “Fierce Attitude” and with the exception of a few tracks, maintain that vibe with “Lightning From The Clear Sky”, “Circular Talk”, “Altar of Pleasure” and the epic six minute closing cut “Sabres Of Flesh and Blood” among the highlights.  They do switch things up a little on a couple tracks, with “Shot of Poison”, a slower track that has a Dio vibe and my favorite “Where The Bodies Are Buried”, which has a bit of a groove to it.  The musicianship here is top-notch from start to finish, with some very impressive guitar work throughout, and sounds like the work of seasoned veterans.  A highly recommended release. 

(Warzaw - Facebook)

The Electric Prunes - Then Came The Dawn : The Complete Recordings 1966-1969

While the six CD box set Then Came The Dawn : The Complete Recordings 1966-1969 only covers a very short period of time it’s a fascinating look at The Electric Prunes, who over the course of just over two and a half years from late 1966 to mid 1969 managed to churn out five albums, while also going through some twists and turns stylewise and changing members quite a few times with the lineup on the fifth release ending up with no members from their debut (several original members band reunite in 1999 and released several more records, but this box set covers that initial time).  In addition containing all five albums (the first three in both mono and stereo versions) there’s also a live show from 1967, some early demos and a disc containing 19 tracks consisting of 45 Mixes, Rare Tracks and Extended Versions.

The Electric Prunes got their start as The Sanctions, who after recording twelve covers on an acetate, added a keyboard player and recorded 4 more demos under the name Jim and the Lords.  The band was working under that name when Barbara Harris saw them rehearsing in bassist Mark Tulin’s garage and got them a gig playing at Annette Tucker’s husband’s birthday and connected them with Dave Hassinger who worked at RCA studios.  He wanted to produce them but didn’t like the name, so they changed it to The Electric Prunes.  This brings us to disc one, which contains their eponymous debut release in both mono and stereo.  To the band’s dismay they ended up having very little to do with the songwriting on this release with Hassinger bringing in the aforementioned Annette Tucker to co-write eight of the twelve songs (six with Nancie Mantz and two with Jill Jones).  He also asked them to write in a variety of styles since the band was trying to find their sound, resulting in the album being a bit all over the place stylewise.  Having said that there is still plenty here to make this a very worthwhile release.   Kicking the disc off is “I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night”, a brilliant psychedelic garage rocker with stellar guitar work that became the band’s biggest hit and signature song.  There are a few other really strong tracks that stick to the garage rock vibe in "Bangles", which meshes it with some Beatles-like passages and "Are You Lovin' Me More (But Enjoying It Less)" with it’s really cool organ work.  Some of the other highlights are "Train For Tomorrow", which starts off as an infectious psychedelic tinged folk tune then halfway through evolves into a jazzy instrumental, the gypsy rock flavor of "Sold To The Highest Bidder" and the freakbeat sounding "Get Me To The World On Time".  They delve a little into R&B influenced rock on "Luvin'" with it’s early Stones vibe and the raucous "Try Me On For Size".  Unfortunately, with the exception of "Onie", a decent ballad, the remaining cuts are all over the place, from the nursery rhyme like "The King Is In The Counting House" and "About A Quarter To Nine", which sounds like a standard from the 30’s to "Tunerville Trolley" whose sound defies explanation, are really all over the place and not that good.  Although a little scattered  this is still a very worthy debut.  

For the follow-up release Underground, found on disc two (again in both mono and stereo versions), producer Hassinger wasn’t as involved with the production, and due to this, the band ended up contributing songwriting for seven of the twelve songs (Tucker and Mantz still contributed three) resulting in a more cohesive sound.  Opening the disc is the hypnotic, twisting and turning psychedelic rock of "The Great Banana Hoax", that in my opinion is every bit as good as “I Had Too Much…”.  The psychedelic rock continues, although in a bit more subdued manor, with "Children Of Rain" and "Wind-Up Toys".  Next up is "Antique Doll", an intriguing track with a really cool creepy vibe to it.  The band veer off into some country rock on "It's Not Fair", a tune that is catchy enough but tends to be a little cheesy.  They get back on track with the moody, acid rock of "I Happen To Love You", written by none other than the legendary Goffin and King, but follow it with another misstep in the novelty sounding "Dr. Do-Good".   From here on the rest of the album contains some really outstanding tracks from the slow and slinky "I", which musically sounds like The Doors at times and "Hideaway", a psychedelic rocker with a bit of a Middle Eastern vibe thanks to the sitar sounding guitar work, to the gorgeous "Big City", that’s a change of pace with a very strong Beach Boys feel, and the sunshine pop of "Capt. Glory". Closing things out is the straight-ahead no frills garage rock of "Long Day's Flight".  Ironically, while Underground was probably the truest representation of what The Electric Prunes were really about, that was all about to change drastically with the next album.

Due to the fact that Underground wasn’t exactly a commercial success, the band’s manager and producer Hassinger, whose company actually owned the rights to the band name, decided along with the label that the next album would be written and arranged by the classically trained musician David Axelrod.  They wanted a religious-based rock-opera concept album that would take their psychedelic rock and merge it with religious and classical elements and be sung in Greek and Latin.  When the band got together to record the album they saw that they couldn’t handle Axelrod’s arrangements to his standards.  While most of the band did perform on all the tracks, the album was largely recorded by studio musicians comprised of the Canadian group the Collectors with engineer Richie Polodor on guitar.  Comprised of just six songs and only running a little over twenty-six minutes, the resulting album Mass In F Minor (the last in the box to be presented in both mono and stereo) was definitely a different direction for the band and is almost better appreciated as one long piece as opposed to different songs. For the most part they have an undercurrent of psychedelic rock running through them, often with long instrumental passage that are then topped off with a string section and vocal chants.   They do stick pretty close to this formula throughout but do mix in a bit of an R&B groove to "Benedictus", while "Agnus Dei" has a bit more of a jazz side to it.  While there had already been numerous member changes at the time Mass In F Minor was released, by mid 1968, a few months after it’s release, the remaining members of the band had all left (interestingly, during the tour that finished right before the last members left, Kenny Loggins was playing guitar with the band). 

Since Hassinger owned the name he once again recruited David Axelrod to write and arrange Release Of An Oath (found on the first half of disc four) and since no members were left he recruited members of the band Climax and some members of the legendary Wrecking Crew to record it.  This time around Axelrod created an orchestral rock concept album based on the Jewish prayer Kol Nidre.  Gone are the chants, replaced by choral vocals and while there are some glimmers of psychedelic rock on a few of the songs, overall there is more emphasis on the string sections. Having said that there are a few songs that are good for what they are, but not really as The Electric Prunes.  "Holy Are You" is the best example of a track where the pieces of the puzzle actually work, especially in the instrumental sections where the guitars, string sections and drums really mesh together perfectly.  Also of note is the jazzy drumming of the legendary Earl Palmer, who really shines on "General Confessional" and "The Adoration", the last of which is another solid track with some really nice, subdued organ work fleshing out the sound. 

As if the story so far hasn’t been strange enough, the band’s fifth album Just Good Old Rock and Roll (found on the second half of disc four) has the band listed on the front cover as “the new improved Electric Prunes” and with the exception of Dick Whetstone, lead vocalist on Release Of An Oath, contains no prior member of the band.  In another twist, this is also the first album almost entirely written and performed by the band, with only one song not at least co-written by a band member.  At this point the orchestration, string sections, chants and choral vocals are gone and for a large part the psychedelic rock is gone having now been replaced by straight-ahead funk and blues rock.  Definitely the weakest album of the bunch with a lot of pretty generic tracks, it’s not without a handful of really strong tracks most notable being "Thorjon", a hard rocking tune full of fuzzed out psychedelic guitars that is worthy of the Electric Prunes name.  A few of the other standouts include "Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers", a catchy tune with a nice funk groove and some really tasty organ and the straight-ahead rocker "Giant Sunhorse". 

On disc five you will find a collection of single mixes, rare tracks and extended versions.  Kicking things of is their first single (released before their debut album) “Ain’t It Hard”, a catchy British Beat track with a bit of psychedelia mixed in, that was originally recorded by Gypsy Trips, and its flipside “Little Olive”, which is a reworking of a song they originally recorded as Jim and the Lords.  Next up is the single version of “I Had Too Much To Dream..” and it’s flipside “Luvin’” and the first of 8 tracks here found in their single version along with an extended version of “Long Day’s Flight (‘Til Tomorrow)”.  There are quite a few notable non-album tracks found on here as well.  The gritty “I’ve Got A Way Of My Own” and “World Of Darkness” are a couple of outtakes from their debut album that were released as a Record Store Day single in 2016.  Released after Mass In F Minor to hopefully get them back on track, “Everybody Knows (You’re Not In Love)” the next non-album single here unfortunately didn’t do that, but it’s an outstanding pop song written and recorded by the band after being asked by Hassinger ‘Why can’t you just do a toe tappable song like the Turtles “Happy Together”?’ and the flipside is a feedback-drenched, snarling garage rocker “You’ve Never Had It Better”.  Recorded for the movie The Name Of The Game Is Kill, “Shadows” is an ominous sounding garage rocker that initially had a very limited single release.  The last two songs are from another non-album single in the form of the bluesy rocker “Hey Mr President” and the laid-back psychedelia of “Flowing Smoothly”, and are the only representation of the final version of the band on this disc.  Both of these tracks are better than about anything on Just Good Old Rock and Roll and showed promise for what should have been.  Closing out the disc it a radio spot the band did for the Vox Wah Wah Pedal. 

Disc number six starts off with Stockholm 67, an eight track live album that was recorded by the Swedish Broadcasting Corporation on December 14, 1967 and was initially released in 1997.  Over the course of forty-five minutes they tear through an aggressive set of raw garage rock consisting of six originals and covers of “I Got My Mojo Working” and “Smokestack Lightning”.  With extended solos full of ripping fuzz guitar solos and a killer bottom end that shows the band in their element this set shows just how good they really were.  This is The Electric Prunes at their finest and it’s a shame they were never given control in the studio so we could really see what they were capable of.  Closing out disc six and the box set are the Jim and The Lords Demo Recordings, four tracks recorded in 1965 before the name change, that take us almost back to the beginning.  Consisting of pretty straightforward garage rock covers of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Leaves plus a version of the original “Li’l Olive” that was later included as the flipside of their debut single, there’s not much indication of where the band was headed, but they are nice additions to the package.  Completing this well put together box is an outstanding thirty-six page booklet full of pics and a very detailed essay of the crazy story behind the band.  

(Grapefruit Records)