The second Alabama installment in
Gear Fab
's fab
Psychedelic States
series is more of the same, meaning a mixed bag of Clearasil psychedelia and undersexed
garage rock
, but it skews enticingly more towards the former sort of weirdness this time around than did the original volume. The compilation still has the good (but not psychedelic) regional hits mixed in with the fourth-rate, mainstream-aping pap (unappetizing even as guilty nostalgic pleasures) and more than its fair share of decent but not-nearly-as-groovy-as-they-thought filler, which is at least of a quality to elicit a giggle or smile the first two or three times through (though that is perhaps one or two more spins than the stuff merits). On the other hand, the relatively significant number of oddball, shaggy-dog nuggets makes the collection worth sifting through, starting right out the box with
the Chimes
'
"#38"
and its effects pedal-heavy acid
blues
.
The Distortions
do a far-out, yowling (literally) version of the
Howlin' Wolf
classic
"Smokestack Lightning"
with some excellent slide guitar work, good enough to get them signed to
Mercury
. The deliciously named
the Outer Mongolian Herd
crank out a
"Hey Joe"
halfway between the
Love
version of the song and the unhinged nuttiness of
"Wooly Bully."
And the infectious, harmony-laden
"You're Playing With Fire"
finds
the Male
in full-tilt
boogie
. But perhaps the strangest curiosity, for extra-musical reasons:
"Think!!,"
a 1968 cut by
George Wallace Jr.
Yes, the son of the infamous governor. And, yeah, it's pretty solid. ~ Stanton Swihart