Outside the confines of the California state line, Texas had arguably the most significant -- and unconventional --
psychedelic
circuit in the whole of '60s America, tied up as it was with
Tex-Mex
border music, modified
country
accouterments (as evidenced by
the 13th Floor Elevators
' electrified jug), and that vast, boiling wasteland of oil derricks, longhorn cattle, good ol' boys, and, undoubtedly, a particularly potent genus of psychotropic cactus. This first Texas edition in
Gear Fab
's ongoing
Psychedelic States
series scales back on the number of songs (just 18 this time around) and also, for the first time since the initial volume in the series, includes a number of recordings from relatively well-known artists (
Roy Head
, with an awesome, if uncharacteristic, rave-up) and bands (
Bubble Puppy
, which had a 1969 Top Ten hit with
"Hot Smoke and Sassafras"
) that have previously been compiled on past LPs. The album benefits from both circumstances. This is by a far shot the leanest, meanest, and most consistently strong collection of the series since that cornerstone original volume. It is, in fact, positively gushing with an abundance of smokin' acidified
garage rock
. The completely deranged
"You Knock Me Down"
by unknown Houston band
Airhead
is the only brown acid here. Recorded in 1966, the song sounds, through the amateurish recording quality, like
Guns N' Roses
on a nightmarish bender. (Seriously.) Perhaps manna for some, but not likely for the average consumer of a
psych
compilation. Once you get past said caterwauling, though, the rest of the album is pure contact high. Particularly heady are
Michael
's
"Caretaker,"
the Countdown 5
"Candy,"
both
tracks (neither of which appeared on its album,
A Gathering of Promises
),
A440
"Marenthelia Glows in the Dark,"
and the
Roky Erickson-ish
"Don't Be That Way"
by
the Reasons Why
. But this volume is pretty outstanding from one side of the high to the other. ~ Stanton Swihart