Here you are in 2025 about to take the Twentieth Trip! The ten vintage early local Hard Rock eruptions here will swarm around you like fear and loathing bats, zapping you from unexpected angles, beyond-a-reasonable-doubt proof that the inevitable collapse of the American Psychedelic ‘60s Utopian Dream into hard guitar low ball self absorbed human nature endures. These killer tracks may be a half century in the rear-view mirror now BUT… since We Can’t Work It Out… we gotta mess it up! A vibe that resonates timelessly, real life ripped out of the haze by real people, fresh and unfiltered right out of the gate. Getting it while they can. These are no mere historic sound recordings, they are life itself! If you’re looking for trouble, you just found it!
Side ONE:
AFTERFLASH open this 20th dose of Brown Acid with a fantastic cover version of “Cookbook,” the stunning Damnation Of Adam Blessing song about feeding your mind with Psychedelic adventures. Stripped down to it’s essentials with two verses and an acid soaked fuzz guitar solo on the fade, 500 copies were issued in 1971 out of Iowa on Hawkeye Records. The band were formed by the merger of two Garage bands, Orphans Of Love and The Thirteenth Hour and they capture that transition from garage to Psychedelic to Hard Rock reaching a perfect sweet spot where they come back full circle to the garage after walking a mile into a mirror and traveling sideways into time.
POLVO ask “Have You Ever Been There?” and ‘there’ is a dark downer place fortunately exorcised by no compromise heavy riffing, alienated vocal attitude until half way through when gnarly guitar leads drive it home. Out of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico in 1971 this scorcher was unleashed by the Mancilla brothers Eric on guitar, Ricardo on bass, Marco on vocals with Roberto Martinez on drums. Issued on major label Orfeon but not watered down one bit by the producer.
Stream the track through the YouTube player below:
HOT CANDY out of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1978 rip it up sideways with blatant Led Zep action in “Darkened Passage,” moves that will put a big juicy WTF smile on your face. Tuff vocal and familiar heavy riffage lead to a haywire guitar break aping Jimmy Page complete with a brief dark dreamy jangle bit culminating in a breakdown based on the way Zep come out of the trippy section of “Whole Lotta Love”… you will crack up when you hear it! Rare private pressing with the mysterious minimal info look on the labels that seekers of the ultra obscure get off on buried treasure style.
BANANA BROS “Suck You In” does just that in a style much different from the other tracks on this ride. Southern Rock funky moves support an unhinged soul strutter vocal filled with grunts and ‘git it!’ yelps including the amazing lyrics “my nerves are tighter than a watch spring, watch me spring baby all over you” and “tell me baby what’s wrong with you”… with dual blazing guitar licks spitting nonstop all thru, hard panned left and right in the stereo mix. Cool looking pic label, too, from Los Angeles 1975.
THE JORDAN BROTHERS from Frackville, Pennsylvania started gigging in the late ‘50s delivering the sounds of the times throughout their career, had a minor hit with a cover of “Gimme Some Lovin’” in 1968, they’re still at it locally today. “Thank You For The Ride” from 1980 is atypically hard rocking for them in an AM top 40 hit radio early ‘70s style. Tuff fuzz guitar, churning organ, bonehead to the point lyrics, the song could have been titled “Thank You For The Sex,” that’s the ride they’re thanking out on!
SIDE TWO:
OSAGE LUTE “Watch Em Shine” is the most ambitious track on this trip, nearly six minutes of epic progressive tinged action moving through multiple scenarios with tempo and key changes, never losing it’s tuff ballsy edge by getting too fancy. You can easily hear Ozzy singing the first two verses in your head with the way the vocals are phrased. Extended southern dual guitar section is followed by a terrific high energy Led Zep influenced arrangement before the vocal comes back with some powerhouse Jack Bruce moves. Out of Union, Missouri in 1974, this band later evolved into the great Back Jack.
SANDY TORANO & THE NIMO SPLIFF is a vitriolic rant from a dude who got totally bent by a girl he thinks was a nothing until he made her into a something but then she got smart and ditched him. Terrific tuff groove with use of a fab exhaling air vocal effect like on “Purple Haze” and “Time Of The Season,” terrific left field Hard Rock Pop moves like spooky descending vocal harmony accents, clever arrangement, gnarly guitar injected into just the right spots. Miami 1970, Sandy went disco in 1977 with the better known band Niteflyte.
LAZY DAY keep the negative vibes coming in a mid ‘70s bar band Southern Rock style, usually these type bands get all sweaty on stage with exhortations to dance to their music, these guys warn you “Don’t Dance In My Song.” Ha! Actually they’re just saying’ don’t get in my face don’t spoil my groove… from their 1974 private press LP ‘Straight Atcha’ out of Iowa. The guitar break is quite tasty but the gushy organ action is what makes it move.
FLAVOR get down with a “Hot And Tot Woman” and she’s like playing with matches, danger, got to put the flame out before it gets too hot in Elburn, Illinois 1977. Close to metal riffage gives way to trashier bar band moves with a low-fi lean towards AOR FM radio appeal, fortunately too raw here to get anywhere near there. Gnarly leads, crude vocals, bleak resignation that this hot and tot chick has a brief shelf life like all the others and figuring it out is pointless.
FROZEN SUN works it just right as a closer for this trip, an instrumental titled “Jamm Part 1” out of Arizona in 1969. It has an eerie epilogue feel following the previous nine tracks. Opens with a lost-in-time tighten up garage funk rhythm guitar groove that sets the mood, bass and drums are just On It all the way, edgy but uneasily relaxed psychedelic fuzz guitar leads veer into raga patterns but remain in the dive bar twilight zone, enhanced by a hauntingly generic familiarity. Off you go into the forbidden underbelly of the night… Frozen Sun means no light, theme music for for those who can’t get it right but have a real good time getting it wrong!
Words by – Paul Major
Side A:
Afterflash – “Cookbook” 1971 – Oelwein, Iowa
Polvo – “Have You Ever Been There? (Has Estado Ahí)” 1971 – Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Hot Candy – “Darkened Passage” 1978 – Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Banana Bros – “Suck You In” 1975 – Los Angeles, California
The Jordan Brothers – “Thank You For The Ride” 1980 – Frackville, Pennsylvania
Side B:
Osage Lute – “Watch Em Shine” 1974 – Union, Missouri
Sandy Torano and the Nimo Spliff – “A Year Ago Today” 1970 – Miami, Florida
Lazy Day – “Don’t Dance In My Song” 1974 – Sioux City, Iowa
Flavor – “Hot And Tot Woman” 1977 – Elburn, Illinois
Frozen Sun – “Jamm Pt. 1” 1969 – Tuscon, Arizona
