Shimmy Disc came slightly late to the CD party, and their early releases in the format didn't always make a lot of sense. For example, this CD puts together
King Missile's third album, 1990's
Mystical Shit, along with their first, 1987's Fluting on the Hump. Even despite the obvious discographical irregularities, the combination doesn't make much sense, because Fluting on the Hump (along with its follow-up, 1988's
They, which would have made much more sense as a second choice on a two-fer CD) was actually by the much different first edition of the band, a collaboration between poet John S. Hall and singer/songwriter Dogbowl (Stephen Tunney), who broke up Hall's recitations -- which especially on these early albums could get a little tiresome and repetitive -- with more melodic and comparatively "normal"-sounding psychedelic pop tunes. By the time of
Mystical Shit, however, Dogbowl had decamped for a solo career and
King Missile was firmly in Hall's hands; as a result, the album is much less musically interesting, the songs consisting of little more than noodly jams underneath Hall's surreal, often funny monologues.
Mystical Shit is a transitional album, weaker than both its predecessors and
King Missile's later career high point,
Happy Hour, where Hall would finally regain the proper balance between music and lyrics. That said, it does have the hilarious college radio hit "Jesus Was Way Cool." ~ Stewart Mason