POST NO. 29: JUKEBOX UPCHUCK PLAYS PUSSY

And we wrap up our tour of the Love, Peace & Poetry series with the British volume. My gut told me that the British volume would be weak because there's already so much material available on the second Nuggets box. But it's actually fairly solid (if a bit more mellow), which is a testament to how much good garage rock was released in Britain that we just don't know much about.

We start with the song "Comets" by Pussy. Released in 1969 on their album Pussy Plays, "Comets" is an instrumental freakfest full of fucked-up theremin and what sounds like a sample of a cow mooing. It's quite easy to see why this one was forgotten over time, as there's nothing memorable about the tune in a pop sense. However, it's a good example of just how far some bands of that era were willing to push the envelope. Pussy feels right at home alongside Red Crayola and Can.

Red Dirt's "Memories" is like the second coming of The Beatles by comparison. The group's self-titled 1970 record was originally released on Fontana, but apparently fell into the void of the unknown shortly thereafter. It's a mellow slice of psychedelia which reminds me of Pearls Before Swine jamming with Richard Thompson. Good stuff!

Pussy - "Comets"

Red Dirt - "Memories"

Pussy's album can be had from Forced Exposure. A few expensive copies of Red Dirt are available over at Gemm.

Note to those of you waiting for me to get back to some modern music: Next week I'll be looking at new releases by Devendra Banhart, Richard Swift, and Iron & Wine with Calexico.