Beautiful 45 I recently encountered from Sacramento, an interesting blend of outer space lyrics and imagery with a superbly primitive folk rock groove. I know very little about this outfit, though I think this is the only thing they ever did. The A-Side has got this marvelously frantic vibe happening replete with a kitchen-sink percussion breakdown, but it's the B-Side which totally slays me as it lays psychedelic love philosophy on the pursuit of exploration in all kinds of space, and fades out on a ramped up swaying riff with wordless vocal refrains. Really haunting, magical stuff. Hope you enjoy...
Found a copy of this 7" about a month or two ago and really dug the sound, sorta reminded me of a cool laid-back mash up of the Dead and Big Star! Hailing from Omaha, Wheelhaus was comprised of the Van Fleet Brothers, Larry and Gary, and their buddy John Cannon. I called up Larry and spoke with him about the band which was a short-lived outfit playing the usual home-town gig circuit of bars and regional festivals. They recorded this one single at Pacific Ave. studios, and were able to get it some local airplay and in the juke-boxes. I was hoping they may have had an LP I had never heard of before, or even just a few more 7"s, but alas this is it! Can't say I'm complaining though, as this 45 is just about perfect... that rare combination of mellow 70s groove and an almost effortless power-pop sensibility. Musicianship is really high too, just dig the shimmering guitar explosion at the end of "Room at the Top"! That song has been stuck in my head for weeks, something about it just catches the vibe of kicking around in the summer twilight so perfectly, the bliss of having nothing to do. It's a love song though, too, slyly winking at that girl who'll never quite come around... melancholy, but free. My gut tells me these guys would've put on quite a show! You can check out Larry's further career in music here, he's still very active in the Omaha area. He kindly sent along these clippings. Looks like great times! Thanks, Larry!
Room At the Top
You've Got to Give her Rock'n'Roll to Keep Her Home
Easily one of the most sincerely weird - and great - records I came across last year was this private press LP from Santa Monica by a guy simply known as Lewis! A good friend turned me onto the record with the caveat that we should try to find him, a trail which was becoming increasingly confusing and eventually impossible. Our search for Lewis ended with a Guam address sans phone number, so I'm going to leave it at that! But the music still stays lodged in my brain, a bizarre floating late night SSW trip with cosmic synth washes, enigmatic vocals, and just a truly wigged mood. I'm completely serious when I say that the vibe on here is just about the closest thing I've found via vanity press records to the highly atmospheric universe of David Lynch's Twin Peaks... Like that show it's ostensibly a really cheesy platform but everything is just so soaked in some kind of weightless transcendence and spooky subterfuge that it just totally destroys me! There's something very very world weary about the LP but couched in this great faded mumbly croon that seems effortless, yet pushing at somewhere far out... I've really been fascinated and mystified by the whole thing, and I hope some other folks will be too. Thanks to Aaron in Canada for first turning this up! Lewis if you're out there, get in touch!
Picked up 2 45s by this group recently and have been grooving on their slightly subdued late 60s small-town vibe. Has that fumbly earnestness mixed with bare bones country rock sentiment that makes records like the hallowed Hickory Wind of Indiana just glow. Have literally nothing to report on this band, though I'll say the above 7" is the better of the two. They get a great late night rehearsal sound on Midnight Memories, and She Fades Away is a perfect breezy ride through rustic heart-aches.
Midnight Memories
She Fades Away
On the Road Again / Lookin' for Love is basically two sides of the same song with different lyrics in a pretty straight ahead country rock vein. Fun laid back vibe with some great barn acoustics and swamp wah on the solos. Make sure to listen to the lyrics of On the Road, they crack me up - especially the marvelously out of touch bit about not getting paid at one gig in Louisiana but being invited back again next year for being so nice about the inconvenience! Anyone with further info on this mysterious combo, please drop a line... And as always, I will see you soon!
Beautiful 45 I recently encountered from Sacramento, an interesting blend of outer space lyrics and imagery with a superbly primitive folk rock groove. I know very little about this outfit, though I think this is the only thing they ever did. The A-Side has got this marvelously frantic vibe happening replete with a kitchen-sink percussion breakdown, but it's the B-Side which totally slays me as it lays psychedelic love philosophy on the pursuit of exploration in all kinds of space, and fades out on a ramped up swaying riff with wordless vocal refrains. Really haunting, magical stuff. Hope you enjoy...
