Tag: psychedelic

698. The Edgar Broughton Band

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(December 2025) Episode 698 is the EDGAR BROUGHTON BAND. I came upon them in a list of UK bands considered precursors of heavy metal. They heavy bass and fuzzy guitar place them among the many acts putting out psychedelic/bluesey music in 1968-69. At times Edgar sings in a gravelly Howlin’ Wolf voice, making his band an answer to the question: what would it sound like if Captain Beefheart played with Iron Butterfly? In fact, they mashed up Beefheart’s “Drop Out Boogie” with the Shadows’ “Apache” to create “Apache Dropout.”  The first two albums had a manic quality, evoking the Crazy World of Arthur Brown. But rather than follow peers into boogie rock riches, they mellowed out, producing some good songs (“Hotel Room” would fit right in on Pink Floyd’s Obscured by Clouds), but mostly rather bland stuff. A reformed band put out a synthy concept album, Superchip, in 1982, which has a strange allure.

Favourite album: Sing Brother Sing

Favourite song: Death of an Electric Citizen

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: The first two albums are good, if odd, period pieces, but all of this is admittedly for deep divers.

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679. WITCH

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Episode 679 is WITCH (We Intend To Cause Havoc). TIL there is a thing called Zamrock. WITCH emerged as one of the most popular bands in post-independence Zambia, playing varieties of psychedelic and rock songs. This form reached its peak with 1975’s Lazy Bones. Their second phase was a couple disco albums in the early 1980s, not so good. After a long gap and being rediscovered by crate diggers, their frontman reformed the band and put out two albums in 2023 and 2025 which are really good: a mix of their old sound on the funky side and with African rhythms.

Favorite album: Lazy Bones!

Favorite song: Lazy Bones.  Or Look Out, I can’t decide.

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: Lazy Bones!, Zango and Sogolo are good albums.

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664. The Electric Prunes

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(August 2025) Episode 664 is THE ELECTRIC PRUNES. After the disappointment of the falsely labeled “psychedelic” music of Episode 662, I needed some OG psychedelia. Thus the Electric Prunes. Their first two albums are quintessential psychedelic garage band material. Their path from there got weird. They were handed over to a producer who had them record a psychedelic Latin Mass, which strangely works, and another religious album released in the band’s name only. They issued one decent late-60s hard rock album before calling it quits. “I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)” was Lenny Kaye’s apt choice to lead off his original Nuggets compilation, setting the tone for that landmark box set and for a genre I adore. Some original members came together in the 21st century for four albums which, by the normally very low standards of decades-later regroupings, weren’t that bad.

Favorite album: The Electric Prunes

Favorite song: I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: The first two albums are delicious psychedelic garage rock.

646. Violet Mindfield

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(April 2025) Episode 646 is the VIOLET MINDFIELD, a contemporary Southern California-based retro-psychedelic band. While their stated intention is to recreate 60s psychedelic and garage band sounds, what I hear is a call back to acts of previous retro generations, such as Olivia Tremor Control and Oh Sees. There’s a fine line between reverent homage and derivative mimicry, which they straddle. Their most recent album, California Burning, appears to be original songs based on classic 60s riffs (not unlike what the Rutles did).

Favorite album: The Forgotten Streetlamps of Time

Favorite song: Autonomous Overdrive

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: It’s an interesting listen if you like 60s psychedelic and garage music.

623. Strawberry Alarm Clock

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(December 2024) Episode 623 is STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK. The ubiquity of their Summer of Love anthem “Incense and Peppermints” might lead you to think they were a one-hit wonder. But they were a real (albeit dysfunctional) band with three good albums of psychedelic-flavored LA-style sunshine pop. There’s a manufactured intentionality to the psychedelia (I mean, look at the album covers) but it’s still a good hippy trip. The fourth album goes into forgettable proto-boogie rock and there was a reunion album decades later.

Favorite album: Incense and Peppermints

Favorite song: Incense and Peppermints

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: Any of the first three albums are a fun trip back to the Summer of Love

510. Deep Purple

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(July 2023) Episode 510 is DEEP PURPLE. I had never intended to review this band, figuring the over-saturated classic rock radio hits were enough. But since several rock/metal bands I like cite them as an influence, I thought I’d give it a go. This review give me an added layer of appreciation of their classic sound (the “Smoke on the Water” era) but I do not put them on par with the others (Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath) included in the ‘unholy trinity.’ I did find some interest in their first three albums, late-60s psychedelic and proto-prog affairs, including the syncopated groove they developed on “Hush” and other songs.  One thing that distinguished Deep Purple is the prominent use of the organ, deployed by Jon Lord as a second heavy guitar.  After Ian Gillan left in the mid-1970s (he would return, leave and return again) the band fell into pedestrian boogie rock and hard rock, recording 15 albums (up to the present decade) about which I found nothing remarkable.

Favourite album: Machine Head

Favourite song: Hush

Favourite song sung by Ian Gillan: Highway Star

Favourite instrumental: Playground

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: I can’t quite recommend a greatest hits album, so just turn on classic rock radio and wait for the hits to come on.  I do point out the three 60s albums to connoisseurs of that era’s psychedelia and proto-prog.

509. The Sorrows

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(July 2023) Episode 509 is THE SORROWS, a British beat band of the mid-60s. They were mod and had an edge, a style known as “freakbeat,” with some dabbling in psychedelia which was customary at the time.  I love all things from that era. They had only one hit in the U.S. (“Take a Heart”) and fell apart after a few years.

Favourite album: Take a Heart

Favourite song: You’ve Got What I Want

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: Probably too niche unless you’re obsessed with that era (like me), so I’ll make another pitch here for the Nuggets 2 box set which includes “Take a Heart”

499. The La De Das

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(6/1/23) Episode 499 is THE LA DE DAS. They gained popularity in New Zealand in the late 1960s by recording the sounds of the contemporary big acts in the UK and US. While their quality never matched that of the bands they mimicked, there are a few cool songs. Their style was standard for the era: blues rock, psychedelic, lots of covers, and even an obligatory concept album (“The Happy Prince”).

Favourite album: The La De Das

Favourite song: How Is The Air Up There?

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: Rather than seek out La De Das albums, buy the fantastic Nuggets II box set, which features “How Is The Air Up There?” – well worth the investment.

495. The Amboy Dukes

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(May 2023) Episode 495 is THE AMBOY DUKES. Known primarily for the psychedelic gem “Journey to the Center of the Mind” and for being Ted Nugent’s first band, they made some good recordings covering the range of late 60s/early 70s sounds: blues rock, psychedelia, groovy rock, prog. Overall it is an uneven affair, within and across albums, never solidifying a musical identity. They eventually did when, amidst personnel changes, Nugent full took over with his guitar-frenzied boogie rock, with which he transitioned seamlessly to a successful solo career.

Favourite album: The Amboy Dukes

Favourite song: Journey to the Center of the Mind

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: a greatest hits album will suffice, although “Journey” is the only essential thing

486. Flower Travellin’ Band

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(April 2023) Episode 486 is FLOWER TRAVELLIN’ BAND, an excellent Japanese psychedelic group from the late 60s/early 70s. They started out as a female-fronted band doing covers of UK and US rock songs (something my parents told me they heard a lot of when they visited Tokyo in the 60s) including, ambitiously, 21st Century Schizoid Man, but were mostly notable for two album covers in which all band members were naked.  They followed with three great psychedelic albums with tinges of prog and proto-metal.  It’s like a mix of Cream, King Crimson, Iron Butterfly and Rush’s first album, but FTB owned their own sound, which influenced others.

Favorite album: Satori

Favorite song: Satori II

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: highly recommend Satori, Made in Japan, and Make Up