The College Crowd Digs Me

"A Mouth In The Clouds" - The Group Image (1968 )      I recently added another psych album to my collection, and one that still flies a bit under the radar.   The album " A Mouth In The Clouds"  has a West Coast folk-psych spirit, although the band hails from Manhattan, New York.  Midtempo vibes drift from an easy rub to more jammier fortes.   The lyrics are interesting and trippy with an even mix of male/female trade-off.  I had no luck identifying the main male vocalist, but it’s all good.  The Group Image definitely enjoys adding a mildly lysergic hippie panache all over the wax, and it’s easy to imagine friends sitting on shag pillows, passing a few strawberry Bamboo twists around while discussing whatevers as hippie lamps throw colored lights on the walls.  It's an interesting spin if you find one.       “A Mouth In The Clouds”  was the band's only album,   and though not rare, it is a hard one ...

Showcase Presents: The House of Mystery, Vol. 1 Len Wein (Writer) and Bernie Wrightson (Artist) DC Comics (2006) (first published in 1968-1971) Graphic softcover, 552 pages      This is all about the nostalgia. A whopping 552 pages of reprinted stories from the DC comic The House of Mystery .  The pages have a bit of the lowest-tier Twilight Zone panache, filled with atmospheric stories of people making bad choices and receiving their comeuppance.   Each tale has some kind of "gotcha" twist ending that can be seen coming a mile away.  But it's fun nonetheless. Showcase Presents: The House of Mystery (inside)      There are plenty of groaners and eyerollers here, but there are a few good 'uns that have legit payoff.  I mean, the scares are lame, but they were always lame, so just let it go.  The House of Mystery is definitely not one you'll want to binge.  I recommend reading two or three stories and then setting the book a...

"Metamorphosis" - Iron Butterfly with Pinera & Rhino (1970 )      I picked up a lot of cheapie albums in the wild this summer.  25¢.  50¢.  Maybe a buck.  I was pretty forgiving, but for two things.  The vinyl had to eyeball VG/VG+ or better.  And the cover had to be decent.  I rarely went to record shops during the warm months, choosing to do my own hunting. Anyway, I'm just now getting around to cleaning them up and giving them proper attention.  I'll either keep them until I find an upgrade or I'll pass them along to someone else.       Iron Butterfly  were never gonna be as great as their band name, but hey, it's Iron Butterfly.  What I mean to say is, you know what you're gonna get when you drop the needle on the bone.  "Metamorphosis”  was the band's fourth album, and while it still exudes the band's spirit, the guys were also trying to stretch their wings. Not as much acid rock, but the...

"Journey To The Center Of The Mind" - The Amboy Dukes (1968 )      The album sounds like a group effort, with each one trying to hold the fort.  Nugent provides some wonderful guitar tones and riffs as one might expect, but Steve Farmer's lyrics and  J.B. Drake's  vocals help keep the mind in cool flux.  As does the steady bottom push.  A few of the tracks shoulder-rub the acid psych realm heavily, while others splash into a more trippy, melodic psychedelia.  And it's this variety that keeps the mind on tippy-toes.         Especially side two, where the opening song, the psych-flag title track, fiercely sends the listener off into the unknown, with a string of songs following, very much of the time.  No concept that I could point a finger at, but they're done well.  By needle-lift, the "journey" eventually returns us, full circle, in and out of our minds, in a pleasing, satisfying way.  You can tick ...

IN THE MAILBOX "Inside The Sandbox: A Tribute To Rick Selga" (2025)       "Inside The Sandbox"  honors longtime drummer  Rick Selga , a staple of the Long Beach underground music scene.  This compilation includes unreleased music from Rick Selga's band,  Secret Hate , as well as from a few other bandmates he's befriended and influenced.  A bleeding needle's worth of California punk burn to help weather the storms.  Now streaming. SECRET HATE A1   "Tough Guys Suffer" A2   "Odd Walking Man" A3   "Black Cloud" GLUE FACTORY A4   "Glueming" A5   "Little Lords" A6   "Too Many People" A7   "Running" HAMAPPLE B1   "Undone" B2   "Cops" B3   "Sick Surreal" B4   "Hazy Shade Of Winter" DAS KLOWN B5   "Dark Robot" B6   "Dumb Dumb" B7   "We Don't Give" "Hazy Shade Of Winter"  - Hamapple (2025) "Dumb Dumb"  ...

"Dawn Explosion" - Captain Beyond (1977 )      I like Captain Beyond .  I have their self-titled lenticular album as well as their follow-up.  Both are equally enjoyable.  You can't go wrong with either.   But as for their third and last album,  "Dawn Explosion," I just never had much interest in picking it up.  Mostly because of weak reviews I've read, and plus, you just don't see this square out in the wild very often.  But I'm glad I finally did.      The previous two Captain Beyond albums are filled with hard rock and a cool prog-psych mindset.  It would be four years before the band released their third, and last album... "Dawn Explosion" in 1977.  A long time to wait to satisfy the studio itch, and perhaps a bit risky, but it's a worthy effort.  Both sides have a couple of tracks that really grab the golden ring, while others sometimes slide into the classic-rock lake that other band peers wer...