Ray Pierle - Time & Money

Reviewed by Josh Robertson

Ray "McKay" Pierle was the man behind one of my personal favorite albums, McKay's "Into You" a private press from 1978. Fans of McKay may know that Ray later had two solo albums, which were also privately pressed and kind of hard to find, featuring the next incarnation of the McKay group. Fortunately, Guerssen imprint Out-Sider is releasing a vinyl reissue of his first album, "Time and Money." It's quite a bit different than the lighter, folky, West Coast influenced McKay albums, going for a homebrewed, smoke-it-up party atmosphere with heavy riffs and fuzzed-out solos.

The album kicks off with "Roll Me Up," an upbeat rocker about, as Ray explains in the liners, life working during the week and recording and playing rock'n'roll in clubs on weekends. Definitely has that hazy, reefer cloud influence going in its favor, and Ray lays down some solid guitar solos. "Workingman's Blues" continues that theme with hard rocking bluesy melodicism. "Start Over" has a freewheeling, trippy atmosphere with some cool effects on Ray's vocals. "Pass It On" is a softer song, reminiscent of the earlier McKay material with it's CSN-styled harmonies. "And you only get more lonely when you're high..." go the lyrics, and there is a slight sense of despair overall. "Till The End of the Night" has some nice double-tracked acoustics and one of my favorite melodies on the album, and the leads are very much like Stephen Stills. "Wish I'd Always Feel This Way" with its Cream influenced strut and heavy wah-fuzz solos could qualify as the heaviest song on the LP. Another great song is "Madman Money" which is very dark and has more heavy riffs, and is about Ray's experiences getting paid for playing shows. "Livin' Them Lies" closes up the album, and has a fun, loose, and hard partying-atmosphere. Which might well sum up the vibe for the entire LP, most certainly heavier than the LP that came next, "Rhythm of the Highway."

As always the quality on this Out-Sider reissue is top notch, featuring comments on each track by Ray and full lyrics, and a photo of the group. The front cover artwork is also killer. If you are unfamiliar with Ray's music this is a great place to start.

Available here (UK/EU), or here (US).

Market Square 45s - The Wrong Society / Worthless / Paul Messis

Reviewed by Josh Robertson

This month's set of 45's by Market Square offers up nothing but good, mid-1960s style garage rock. If you like that sort of throwback styling from modern groups, you will LOVE these. Anyway, let's take a listen.

The Wrong Society's "She Destroyed Me" starts with a Kinks-y opening riff, this is a dead ringer for the 1960s, with protopunk Vox keys and clean, ringing guitar. It's all about bad women doing you wrong, and during the middle eight there are some nice harmonies before closing out with the main riff. This is great stuff, with a total throwback garage-rock feel. It's catchy and I really dig it. "Without You", the B side, starts off with a fuzz riff then switches back to clean guitar with some overbearing keyboards and a minor key pre-chorus. The band drops out to let the intro riff come through repeatedely, and this is simple garage rock, but as the band modulates it proves to be more than your average old hacking away. The fuzz riff is super effective and the theme of wild girls is the main driving force for these young lads.



Worthless' "Children of the Grave" , side A, has a major key feel with echo-chamber vocals and a late 60s feel. The rhythm is pure Doorsy goodness and you can feel yourself drifting away as the song goes along. Cold, dark, slightly gothic. "Softest" the b-side has what sounds like Farfisa organ and a whimsical, almost Pink Floyd feeling. Even though the band do this in a major key there is still a really ethereal vibe. It's hard to understand the lyrics on both these cuts, but I think that is not so much the point as the overall feel. Great stuff.



Paul Messis (the label owner) brings up the rear with more 1966-era garage rocking with hollow-bodied ringing guitars and lyrics speaking of Ivory towers. This is snotty garage rock and this 45 would have sounded right in place on "Nuggets" or "Back from the Grave". "As Time Rolls By" is kind of Byrdsy too, complete with Rickenbacker lead guitar overlays. Messis sings in a sort of dead-pan style which is nice and there is happiness meeting depression here, the way I see it.


Market Square Records definitely has something going here. All these cuts show a clear grasp of vintage garage-psych and all could have come out in 1966 if you didn't know better, when 45s meant something!

The Bachs "Out of the Bachs"

Reviewed by Josh Robertson

The latest offering from Guerssen's Out-Sider imprint is here: "Out of the Bachs" by the Bachs - a Chicago-based high school group who released this LP in 1968 with a press count of only 150. Its reputation is fierce, and it's highly regarded as one of the best garage albums of all time. Let's take a closer listen and see what all the fuss is about.

Things start kicking with the R'n'B influenced "You're Mine", which I honestly thought was a cover because the melody is so familiar it seems as if it was a radio hit. These guys must have been live favorites in the area and it's shocking to think they were just teens when this was recorded. When I first stumbled upon "Out of the Bachs" I was immediately reminded of how big of an influence they must have been on Ariel Pink - he seemed to have a knack for obscure, "Acid Archives" style private presses to draw from, which was evident by his cover of "Bright Lit Blue Skies" by The Rising Storm, another late 60s highschool group. The overall feel of such tracks as "Minister to a Mind Diseased" was the first clue in. It's all about driving fast and living dangerously, the kind of stuff any 18-year old fantasizes about, yet it has a mature flair which also gives a sense of foreboding.

The lads really knew how to write some minor key melodies and "Free Fall" is another one of my favorites. There is tambourine and upbeat percussion throughout. Even though the band parted ways shortly afterwards, this LP leaves nothing to be desired. I wouldn't go so far as to call this psychedelia but the band really stretched, and I definitely detect some Beatles influences. There is just a dance-hall, beer drinking, R'n'B, flair that sets it apart from your typical frat-rock/teenbeat album.

Out-Sider has really brought this out of the depths of sketchy reissues and unofficial releases. As always there's informative liner notes and excellently mastered sound. I would definitely say this lives up to the hype and anyone who likes 1960s rock with a love of melody should enjoy this - yet another Acid Archives favorite appears out of the shadows of obscurity!

Available here (US), and here (UK/EU).

Children "Great River"

Reviewed by Josh Robertson

We all know that there's been a resurgence of interest in the music of the mid to late sixties, with a lot of bands channelling the vibes of those old records into a psychedelic music for the modern era, with the help of new technology. Children, a five man outfit from Los Angeles, is certainly one of those bands. "Great River," featured here, is their first album. It's available in a swanky gatefold CD digipack with some cool artwork, and also a limited cassette.

This is laid back, dreamy, smoke-filled music. Overall, it's a of mash of Byrdsy guitar jangle with lots of open spaces, and synthesizer/guitar-laden instrumental interludes. I'm also reminded of the slower, syrupy Vanilla Fudge, and pre-Blue Oyster Cult Stalk Forrest Group’s “California Album”. I enjoy the beachy-surf feel present at some points, with good compositional work, rhythms and chord changes. However it is way more progressive and engaging than simple surf/beach songs, and I feel these guys will really make their mark playing this stuff out on the road.

I'll mention a few of my favorite tracks on here. "Salamander", and "Doowaddadoo" (sung kinda like "Do What I Do") both highlight funky drum/surf guitar parts, and catchy in-between-verses riffs which leave plenty of spaces to jam in between. "Incantation" starts off with psychedelic keyboards, then drums, then guitar and the rest comes in. This layering is a nice touch and this is classic psych-surf, as I see it. "Don't Take All Night" reminds me a lot of Ariel Pink, as the reverb-y tones have that cold-ego-death, out of your body feel. There's a definite longing for strawberry fields like your good old late 60s favorites.

The album was recorded in Mississippi, which means "Great River" in the language of the local natives. I get the feeling these guys have been playing for awhile, as there is not only top notch musicianship here, but a definite chemistry present. Definitely a must hear if you are into progressive dream-surf, with a bluesy old school touch. And be sure to give this album time to sink in, as there is plenty happening below the surface for you to find during a late night headphone listen when it's quiet.

CD, cassette and digital all available here:

Michael Angelo "Michael Angelo"

Reviewed by Josh Robertson

If you've ever dabbled in out-of-its-time outsider psychedelia, there's a good chance you've heard and enjoyed this album already. And if you've never heard Michael Angelo Nigro's self titled 1977 classic private press album, now is the perfect time to make your introductions.

This is an album that has been analyzed and reviewed so much, that it's becoming a little trendy to state that it's over rated. But you can't believe everything you read online, and it's best to let your ears make their own judgements in the end. And I certainly don't hear anything over rated about this. Michael Angelo was a much more accomplished songwriter and player than most, especially for a studio musician. The album was recorded during off hours at Liberty in Kansas City, and while simple and bare, it has a charm that shines through, instead of the rushed feeling it should have, considering the circumstances of its creation.

It's full of hooks, ringing Byrdsian-West Coast Fender guitars, eerie synths, and Chris Bell/Big Star guitar solos. We start off kicking with "Flights of Pegasus" which twists and turns through major and minor modes in a psychedelic flux that I just eat up. "Oceans of Fantasy" features a tom-roll drum/pinch harmonics guitar intro that sounds JUST like something from the coming decades by so many indie/pop rock groups. The reverbed lead guitar in between the verses, the repeating hook....yeah, I was shocked when I heard it. It sounded so familiar, and not even really that retro. Influential much?

And let me mention as well, the introspective, but positive lyrics and encourage the search for one's self; yet they have a slightly sardonic quality, as on "Checkout" and "Bon Jour Mr. VIP". They look respectively, at the topics of suicide, and the music industry, but it don't come off as morbid or cheeky. And the melody on “Checkout” is eat your heart out good. Like McCartney, or better yet, Emitt Rhodes. It's all wrapped up by "Future" which sounds just like early REM or the dB's would in the near future, thanks to its intro licks, but when the song fully kicks it is all Michael Angelo, featuring some 60s psych overtones. Think a West Coast amalgam with strange eastern-sounding scales and overdriven Fender to round out the middle break. Top notch stuff right here.

Michael Angelo Nigro sounded like nobody else, and for the time he strikes me as being on a whole timeless kick. He was undoubtedly a step ahead of the growth that began to take effect in the East Coast indie scene in the early 1980s. He sounds like nobody else, yet wears the influences of certain familiars on his sleeve. There's a reason that scummy record snakes bootlegged this down to exact copies, it really is an enticing listen (and investment-worthy).

There is really no better time for Anthology Recordings to put this re-issue out, it's available from their website on LP with a bonus "7 or CD/MP3. It’s from an original vinyl copy, and sounds excellent compared to the average needledrop's that have previously been released, with no noise-reduction. This is more like it, it sounds great. I don't need to tell you how good it is, as the press it's gotten lately has been quite amazing. You get a real feel for what was going on behind locked doors in the studio late in the morning, early at night, whenever there was a free slot.

One of the original indie-fi classics finally has its chance to emerge out of the shadows. It's only a matter of time until its popularity soars.

CD available here (UK/EU), and here (US). Vinyl available here (UK/EU), and here (US).

Slowgold "Stjärnfall"

Reviewed by Josh Robertson

On Slowgold's second album "Stjärnfall", it's as if their sacred altar of musical improvisation is a romp down by the river with "Cortez the Killer". I'm reminded of the nonsensical front cover of Neil Young & Crazy Horse's 1975 album, "Zuma" by the fact that, for me, this is a foreign language album; I'm left with the musical content and tonalities of Amanda Werne's voice to enjoy, which is kind of nice. Werne has a beautiful, trancelike voice, which doesn't come close to sounding like Neil, even if its instrumental accompaniments belie more than a slight hint. Think of Robin Trower’s devotion to Jimi Hendrix and how he subsequently filtered it through his own playing, and you may understand what I mean.

Things start off really smoked-out slow. It's "Danger Bird" territory with some Dallas Taylor drumming style shuffles. Minimalist, well chosen riffs that are definite homages to Neil Young & Old Black, his Gibson Les Paul Frankenstein guitar. If you ever thought Neil Young never did it better than songs like "Down By The River", "Danger Bird" & "Cortez the Killer", this is the album for you.

There are also late 60s Topanga lids-n-luudes instrumental adventures, big fuzzy Les Paul tones, and a Garcia/Young/Krieger influence on the tone and solos, with occasional Doorsy keys. I was reminded a bit of a few of my favorite Michigan based, organ-driven psych bands like SRC and Mystic Siva, with definite hints of David Crosby's first solo album.

The influence of Werne’s nationality comes through a bit as well, creating a cold-yet-warm vibe. This seems to be more like a lost in time album from 1972 or so, and sounds fresh and inviting, unlike what was happening to some musicians of the time who were heading downhill on various chemical and alcohol stimuli. This is a sound reminiscent of a folk-rock style which musicians perfected by 1972.

I always admire a stab at the old school West Coast psychedelic scene, which is where my tastes reside, although as I move along I find I hear this touching on a lot of other stuff too. Being from this day and age it’s a surprise to hear the authenticity and devotion these musicians conjure. Take a listen if you like Buddha induced slow guitar jams, fuzz, keys, and sweet female vocals.

Available digitally here (US), or here (UK/EU).  Buy the LP, or stream below. 

King Biscuit Entertainers "Northwest Unreleased Masters, 1967-1970"

Reviewed by Josh Robertson

I was quite excited when I was given the chance to review some of Guerssen's June releases as they have a habit of unleashing some hidden gems that I've missed over the years. This is certainly the case with King Biscuit Entertainers, who serve up a nice set of late 60s garage/psych rock here on the Out-sider label imprint. The Entertainers were a Pacific Northwest band active from 1968 to 1971, who released some 45's in the late 60s. This release definitely sheds some light on a very fertile scene, and King Biscuit had to be up there with the best of them at the time.

Let me start off by saying what great threads the band have. The cover features them in all their late 60s majesty. They were dressed to kill, and as they were primarily known as a live band at the time, I'm sure this only added to their blistering sets. The style of the Biscuit’s music is of its period, more than hinting at an Iron Butterfly/Vanilla Fudge style - soul, soaked in psychedelic syrup. A highlight of the group is its rhythm section, which was very tight with an outstanding bassist who has some experimental, fuzzy, overdriven tones. And I’d hate to forget to mention the romping stomping Corky Laing/Carmine Appice drumming which makes for a seat-of-your-pants R'n'B psych ride.

There's some very tasty Hammond B-3 sounds on here that entwine nicely with the sounds of the rest of the band, making it a must for organ-driven rock fans, as well as fans of Fender tones. The album gets off to a great start with “Take Me to Chicago” with a catchy 60s Box Tops / Mamas and Papas vibe with ringing, Byrdsy Rickenbacker guitar. I’m sure this song could have gotten airplay at the time. “Now Baby I Love You” was released as a 45 in 1968 and is an absolute killer, with fuzz-bass and a bluesy strut where the instruments drop out periodically to highlight the vocals.

The band was more than another average Iron Butterfly knockoff, and there’s some infectious Beatles and Nazz Anglo-pop moves to go with the R'n'B and blues riffs. On songs like "Rollin' Free Man” there’s a Deep Purple style chug and intensity, which sounds like a precursor to the sound Captain Beyond was streamlining a few years later in the early 70s.

The guitarist leans on the heavy-impact octave riffs and the drums sound huge. "Rosemary's Second Child" brings out a slower, bluesy, late-night deviant atmosphere. But of course the Biscuit pumps up the beat and there is an intense middle section with some tricked out crunchy rambling lead. “Judgement (Look Up And Get Ready)” has some great background vocals with a falsetto that, mixed as it is, sounds like female background singers, which is kind of cool. There are also some guitar harmonies that, for this period, show these guys had serious chops. Only one track was recorded in 1970, the rest are from '68 mostly, with two '67 cuts (one from a 45 release).

King Biscuit Entertainers only had three singles out in the 1960s which are very difficult to obtain in a physical format now, aso this is a very important document, which shows a great band in a very storied transition period between the psychedelic boom and the shift to early-70s hard rock from soul and pop. There are noo real philosophical or mind-benders here, more the onslaught of a group of guys who were screaming to break into the next decade as a classic hard rock act. Fans of organ and guitar interplay will want to give this a listen, as well as fans of Trapeze, Armageddon, and Deep Purple.

Available here (US), or directly from the label here in Europe.

Sabbatis "Warning in the Sky"

Reviewed by Josh Robertson

Guerssen label imprint Out-sider has a new entry in their excellent catalog of lost classics and rare material from the best quality sources. Sabbatis’s “Warning in the Sky” is an unreleased (until 2011!) 1970 hard rock slab featuring a foreboding name. One may immediately draw comparisons to Black Sabbath, but it's actually less Sabbath-y than a lot of records in this vein. The band was formed in New York in 1968; I'm always excited to see amazing groups that I have not heard from this era. Out-sider is giving these lost treasures the right treatment, from top notch cover design and liners to pristine remastered sound. Let’s see what the band had to offer in the brief period that they were active.

To start, this band's forte is primarily instrumental, and these songs are built upon swinging roadhouse riffs (Gibson SG3 triple-hum bucker and Marshall double-stack) accompanied by quick, tight, Euro-prog riffs. The band couldn't wait to get through the verses to jam the songs out, and I’m sure these guys were great live. The focus is mainly on instrumental excursions, which this album delivers in spades if you are a fan of old-school riff rock. There's a strong British progressive touch as well as a minor-key gothic vibe that does their name justice. The bluesy vocals remind me particularly of Mike Pinera (Blues Image/Iron Butterfly).

"Everyday Is Cool" has that familiar upbeat 70s vibe, and strangely I hear catchiness along the same lines as “Feels Like The First Time” by Foreigner in the main riff (more on that connection later!) "Crystal Mirror" also has with a classic roadhouse bluesy riff which just reeks mojo. "GREEN GLASS AND ALL THAT JAZZ" has some excellent lead playing and tone, and an 'open-road cruising-in-the-Barracuda' feel. There's also a darker side to it all, and the mournful "The Devil’s In You" starts off once again with drums in full ride cymbal/ jazzy snare top gear mode, with an infectious riff and some nice minor key soloing. Side two features the more acoustic/folkie stuff, and "Conversation with Billy" does a nice job of showing the group's softer side. There’s all sorts of interesting changes, with professional musicianship which make this much more than a drugged-out hazy jam, like Phafner or the Estes Brothers.

All of the songs on the album were recorded in 1970 in a home studio in hopes of landing a record contract. They would lay unreleased until 2011 when a copy of the 1/4 reel turned up. As I've not heard the 2011 initial release of this CD, I can only judge from Outsider's excellent remastering job that this is a quite professional sounding production, which is no surprise as the band gathered funds to get their friend Nathan "Mick" Guzauski who is now a multi-platinum Mixing Engineer and Sound Engineer. He did pickup engineering work with a few now-well-known musicians early on in his career, including Lou Gramm, later of Foreigner (remember how I mentioned them earlier? There are no coincidences). It’s no surprise that there was an ace behind the boards for this. It sounds better than lot of private press/obscure hard rock albums in terms of fidelity at least, making it a good choice for people wary about needle drops, bad EQ or noise reduction.

I suggest this for fans of Leaf Hound, Grand Funk, Mountain, and fans of Mike Pinera's stints in Blues Image and Iron Butterfly. Also, Hammond B-3 fanatics who like extended improvisations featuring the instrument will find a real gem, as it offers up some low-mid gritty tones ala Jon Lord or Mystic Siva. There are no hardcore revelations here, but "Warning in the Sky" shows a super tight band with the right image poised for a breakthrough. Sabbatis had a lot of strong suits and were excellent musicians, and it's a shame this tape didn't wind them up in the record bins….until now, where it will get the exposure it deserves.

 Get it here.