Tag: rock

698. The Edgar Broughton Band

~ ernopepper ~ Leave a comment

(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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691. The Fratellis

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(November 2025) Episode 691 is The FRATELLIS. This Scottish indie rock’s first two albums from the 00s offer poppy, peppy songs full of melodic hooks. You may recognize “Chelsea Dagger” from its get-the-crowd-singing use by sports teams, including as the goal song for the Chicago Blackhawks. But thereafter, each successive album gets less interesting, devolving into typical 2010s shiny pop-rock where over-production substitutes for creativity.

Favourite album: Here We Stand

Favourite song: Babydoll

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: The first two albums Costello Songs and Here We Stand are a fun listen

688. Iggy Pop

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(October 2025) Episode 688 is IGGY POP. This provides a case study (as with Lou Reed) into whether an extended solo career derives from evolving musical creativity or riding on the fumes of fame earned as frontman with an iconic and seminal group (and image cultivation). With Iggy Pop it’s both. Arguably the strongest are the first two albums done with David Bowie on retreat in Berlin. But that’s followed by a decade and a half of weak offerings including an attempt at new wave. But 1993’s American Caesar was a return to raw power (!) sound that continued through the Stooges reunion in the 2000s. The 21st Century saw experimentation with spoken word and European pop. Overall I’ll say Iggy Pop has proven his stature.

Favorite album: The Idiot

Favorite song: Lust for Life

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: The Idiot and Lust for Life (Bowie years) and most of the 90s albums

682. The Peanut Butter Conspiracy

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(September 2025) Episode 682 is THE PEANUT BUTTER CONSPIRACY. Sometimes I think about repurposing the Project into a completist obsession to listen to every recording released between 1965-69. Doing an episode on The Peanut Butter Conspiracy serves that goal as well. They were a short-lived group from the L.A. scene that gets labelled psychedelic, although in the hippy/groovy California sense. I might call it sunshine pop with a fuzz guitar edge. With male and female vocal leads, they have a Mamas and the Papas sound, with a bit of Jefferson Airplane too. Their first two albums are perfect period pieces, as is having a three-word nonsense name.* Their third album, reflecting both personnel changes and 1968’s big shift in musical attitudes, is forgettable.

Favorite album: The Great Conspiracy

Favorite song: Living, Loving Life

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: The first two albums are an enjoyable dip into what’s-happenin’-now groovy tunes.

* Quicksilver Messenger Service, Strawberry Alarm Clock, The Chocolate Watchband, 13th Floor Elevators, etc.

681. Los Bravos

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(September 2025) Episode 680 is LOS BRAVOS, one of the few beat groups from a non-English speaking country to have a hit in the U.S.  You’ll recognize “Black is Black” from the radio repertoire of mid-1960s pop songs. They were from Spain, but their lead singer was from Germany and sang largely in English. Their peppy “Going Nowhere” made the Nuggets II box set. At this attenuated stage of the Project, I resort to B-and C-tier acts from the 60s, as Los Bravos shows. The fact that they were from Spain is the most salient feature.

Favorite album: Los chicos con las chicas

Favorite song: Black is Black

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: Attention deserved only for completists of 1960s pop and rock music.

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.

662. The High Dials

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(July 2025) Episode 662 is THE HIGH DIALS. This is a good reminder to apply robust skepticism to any contemporary band given the label “psychedelic.” This Canadian outfit’s initial album, A New Devotion, drew me in by offering promise with Beatles/Byrds-style baroque rock songs. But thereafter they descend into that 21st century kind of pop/rock that over-processes voice and instruments into a lush-ness that someone decided to improperly label psychedelic, thereby insulting all the art and artistry of the OG psychedelic aesthetic. “Open Up the Gates” from their third album was good neo-psychedelia, though.

Favorite album: A New Devotion

Favorite song: Oisin, My Bastard Brother

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: Just that first album. I didn’t enjoy the rest.

660. Spirit

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(July 2025) Episode 660 is SPIRIT. They’re known for three things: (1) the minor classic rock hit “I Got a Line on You,” (2) the object of the copyright suit claiming Jimmy Page nicked a guitar line for “Stairway to Heaven” (unsuccessful, correctly IMO), and (3) giving us Jay Ferguson, of the yacht rock classic “Thunder Island” and composer of the theme song from The Office (US). Otherwise, their three late-60s albums will be of interest only to deep divers of that period (like me). They are an eclectic mix of rock, psychedelic, prog and jazz, fittingly drawing from the LA scene at the time. For an unknown reason, though, someone kept giving them recording contracts afterwards and through the 1990s.

Favorite album: The Family That Plays Together

Favorite song: I Got A Line On You

Compared to expectations: ↓

Recommendation: The first three albums may be of interest to aficionados of late 60s California rock. But others can skip.

656. Lush

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(June 2025) Episode 656 is LUSH, among the top-tier of bands whose name describes their sound. That was from the first part of their career in the early 1990s, when they helped introduce the shoegaze sound of ethereal, sweeping guitars, represented on several EPs and their first album. By their third and last album (1996’s Lovelife), Lush has turned to the prevalent Britpop sound. (Their second album was a transition between the two.) I like both styles, but kinda favor the shoegaze and Miki Berenyi’s floating vocals.

Favourite album: Spooky

Favourite song: Sweetness and Light

Compared to expectations: ↑

Recommendation: Each of the three albums are good, but check out the several EPs that preceded the first.