Agony Shorthand
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Monday, February 20, 2006
VARIOUS ARTISTS : "PSYCHEDELIC DISASTER WHIRL" LP......
I'll admit that when I started accumulating 60s garage records I kept my picks very much in line with the Crypt Records ethos, as exemplified by Crypt's own mid-80s landmark garage punk series "Back From The Grave" - no hippies, no drugs, no keyboards, no wusses, etc, etc. Thus I've had a little catching up to do on the "psychedelic" end of things. Had I started with this fantastic comp "PSYCHEDLIC DISASTER WHIRL" all those years ago (it came out in '86), I might've ended up in the same place, as this one also screams "Rare & Wyld - Lotsa Loud Fuz!- No Flower Power" from the sleeve (hear hear!), but you couldn't imagine any of these mind expanders getting anywhere near a Crypt comp in a million years. Whatever. Just because these guys, mostly Californians, were gobbling dope & pills by the half-acre & ranting about it on limited-edition, private-press 45s ain't any reason to shut them down - like who are we to judge, right?
"Psychedelic Disaster Whirl" is that most rare of compilation breeds - the one with no duff cuts, not one. Sort of reminds me of another classic bootleg compilation from the same era, "I Was A Teenage Caveman", which is truly even more smokin' than any single "Back From The Grave" edition. I swear, everything on here piles on fuzz, echoes, weird delay & bent guitar work in spades, all of it hard-charging and very little of it even mid-tempo. One of the all-time scorchers was first found here, the CARETAKERS OF DECEPTION's "Cuttin' Grass", but I'll admit it's the only one on here I'd actually heard before. My shame is now on display! "It's hard enough for me to see, when you've taken my eyes from me". You said it, hippie! But even better than that - holy god - is this mind-melter called "Yellow Listen" by SCORPIO TUBE. W-O-W. An acid-damaged, feedback-encrusted clanger, with a very creepy feel & guitars cranked into the great beyond. Instantly joins the TWILIGHTERS' "Nothing Can Bring Me Down" and the STEREO SHOESTRING's "On The Road South" as three of the hottest 1960s psychedelic punkers of all time. It's a shame to call them honorable mention, but on this top-drawer comp honorable mention goes to the BOY BLUES' Batman-esque grinder "Comin' Down To You", the two stunning tracks from PERPETUAL MOTION WORKSHOP, and the only truly textbook "psych" song on here, "Optical Sound" by HUMAN EXPRESSION. It's all good. Lately I've seen posts on this entire record popping up on the Information Superhighway, so with a little sleuthing -- even from within this very post - you should quickly find yourself good to go with this incredible comp. Please go to it!
I'll admit that when I started accumulating 60s garage records I kept my picks very much in line with the Crypt Records ethos, as exemplified by Crypt's own mid-80s landmark garage punk series "Back From The Grave" - no hippies, no drugs, no keyboards, no wusses, etc, etc. Thus I've had a little catching up to do on the "psychedelic" end of things. Had I started with this fantastic comp "PSYCHEDLIC DISASTER WHIRL" all those years ago (it came out in '86), I might've ended up in the same place, as this one also screams "Rare & Wyld - Lotsa Loud Fuz!- No Flower Power" from the sleeve (hear hear!), but you couldn't imagine any of these mind expanders getting anywhere near a Crypt comp in a million years. Whatever. Just because these guys, mostly Californians, were gobbling dope & pills by the half-acre & ranting about it on limited-edition, private-press 45s ain't any reason to shut them down - like who are we to judge, right?"Psychedelic Disaster Whirl" is that most rare of compilation breeds - the one with no duff cuts, not one. Sort of reminds me of another classic bootleg compilation from the same era, "I Was A Teenage Caveman", which is truly even more smokin' than any single "Back From The Grave" edition. I swear, everything on here piles on fuzz, echoes, weird delay & bent guitar work in spades, all of it hard-charging and very little of it even mid-tempo. One of the all-time scorchers was first found here, the CARETAKERS OF DECEPTION's "Cuttin' Grass", but I'll admit it's the only one on here I'd actually heard before. My shame is now on display! "It's hard enough for me to see, when you've taken my eyes from me". You said it, hippie! But even better than that - holy god - is this mind-melter called "Yellow Listen" by SCORPIO TUBE. W-O-W. An acid-damaged, feedback-encrusted clanger, with a very creepy feel & guitars cranked into the great beyond. Instantly joins the TWILIGHTERS' "Nothing Can Bring Me Down" and the STEREO SHOESTRING's "On The Road South" as three of the hottest 1960s psychedelic punkers of all time. It's a shame to call them honorable mention, but on this top-drawer comp honorable mention goes to the BOY BLUES' Batman-esque grinder "Comin' Down To You", the two stunning tracks from PERPETUAL MOTION WORKSHOP, and the only truly textbook "psych" song on here, "Optical Sound" by HUMAN EXPRESSION. It's all good. Lately I've seen posts on this entire record popping up on the Information Superhighway, so with a little sleuthing -- even from within this very post - you should quickly find yourself good to go with this incredible comp. Please go to it!
