Though you might expect a 1960s garage-psychedelic compilation from the title, it turns out that the "original subtitle" (as it's called on the back cover blurb), "Psychedelic Sitar Trash Go-Go," might have been a better description of this collection's contents. Not that there are a ton of sitars on this disc (though there are some), but it's basically a survey of some of the cheesier psychedelic-influenced recordings to have made their way onto vinyl back in the '60s and '70s, without much of a central theme to hold the cuts together. There's some lounge music, go-go swingin' '60s pop, surf, exotica, fuzz guitar, space age pop, and bubblegum in the mix to varying degrees, too. This can't disguise the fact that a lot of this sounds like easy listening music given desperately hip dressing, and it's certainly not an anthology to turn to if you want creative efforts of enduring authenticity. In fact, much of it's rather silly, whether it's the pseudo-harem dancing grunting of the Dave Myers Effect's "Silent Screamer" or
Lord Sitar's hack-psychedelic cover of
the Rolling Stones' "Have You Seen Your Mother Baby, Standing in the Shadow?" (Guy Pedersen & Son Grand Orchestre's lounge-psych interpretation of "We Love You" is an even odder dive into the
Stones' catalog). It's admirably international in its scope, however, taking in efforts from the U.K., the U.S., Belgium, Peru, France, and Switzerland. There's even an actual hitmaker in Crazy Elephant, whose 1969 B-side, "Space Buggy," mixes science fiction electronics with basic, grungy pop-garage guitar, while
the Rowdies' 1964 single "Kafka" (from Belgium) is like futuristic surf music. Overall it could be fun if you're in the right mood, but too heavy on the kitsch factor to take in such a heavy dose if you're not. More in the way of original release/recording dates would have been appreciated in the brief liner notes, too. ~ Richie Unterberger