Agony Shorthand
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Thursday, May 22, 2003
SIMPLY SAUCER : “CYBORGS REVISITED” – IT’S HERE…..As promised, Canada’s Sonic Unyon records have now officially re-released what some have righteously called “the greatest Canadian record ever”, the killer and long out-of-print posthumous LP from 1974-78 Hamilton, Ontario legends SIMPLY SAUCER. A wise man once had this to say about the now-available-again “Cyborgs Revisited” LP:
“….some of the most jarring & transcendent rock and roll ever laid down….combining a dense, guitar-heavy surge with a bizarre dose of space-age electronics, Simply Saucer set up a uniquely futuristic sound marked with a lyrical vision of modernity gone very, very wrong. The band hued well to classic rock structure while flailing wildly within its borders. It's not just the lyrics that call up images of robotic dominance and the dreaded black helicopters; the often Teutonic music does the job almost as well. Yet it would definitely be a misnomer to compare the band to the Germans who were busy creating an avant-garde rock wave of their own in 1973-75. This shit definitely kicks out the jams....
All right, so you already know about all that. So what about the extra tracks? It appears that rather than go deeper into space rock freak-outs, the Saucer turned into North America’s hottest bar band circa 1977-78, and I mean that in the very best sense. All were recorded after the 1974-75 heyday of the original “Cyborgs Revisited” tracks, and the four demos (especially “Low Profile”) have a real hard-hitting “Loaded” -era VELVET UNDERGROUND approach that, while not quite in the league of their early stuff, is still quite fine to hear. I’m not crazy about the 1978 “She’s A Dog / I Can Change My Mind” 45 that closes out this release, but you power pop simps may have some fun with it. The key thing is to get on board & grab this while it’s around this time – I’m telling you, “the greatest Canadian record ever” thing is right on. Even better then fuckin’ 2112!
“….some of the most jarring & transcendent rock and roll ever laid down….combining a dense, guitar-heavy surge with a bizarre dose of space-age electronics, Simply Saucer set up a uniquely futuristic sound marked with a lyrical vision of modernity gone very, very wrong. The band hued well to classic rock structure while flailing wildly within its borders. It's not just the lyrics that call up images of robotic dominance and the dreaded black helicopters; the often Teutonic music does the job almost as well. Yet it would definitely be a misnomer to compare the band to the Germans who were busy creating an avant-garde rock wave of their own in 1973-75. This shit definitely kicks out the jams....
All right, so you already know about all that. So what about the extra tracks? It appears that rather than go deeper into space rock freak-outs, the Saucer turned into North America’s hottest bar band circa 1977-78, and I mean that in the very best sense. All were recorded after the 1974-75 heyday of the original “Cyborgs Revisited” tracks, and the four demos (especially “Low Profile”) have a real hard-hitting “Loaded” -era VELVET UNDERGROUND approach that, while not quite in the league of their early stuff, is still quite fine to hear. I’m not crazy about the 1978 “She’s A Dog / I Can Change My Mind” 45 that closes out this release, but you power pop simps may have some fun with it. The key thing is to get on board & grab this while it’s around this time – I’m telling you, “the greatest Canadian record ever” thing is right on. Even better then fuckin’ 2112!
