after a weak outing with volume #3, the folks who put out the psychedelic experience compilations have come back strong with volume #4!

in case you aren't familiar with this series, what you'll find here is a collection of incredibly obscure (mostly U.S.) psychedelic bands of the mid to late sixties. and if by any chance acid-drenched fuzz guitar is what you crave -- you've hit the jackpot here buddyboy! and just dig the fabulously scary cover!! i knew i'd like this cd after a glance at the cover art alone! it features a giant spider with a human skull for a head--complete with blood dripping from it's mouth and no less than "LSD" tattooed on it's forehead!! bad trip anyone?

ok, now the songs:
the cd starts off with a los angeles band called --- wait for it --- perpetual motion workshop and the a-side of their only 45 "infiltrate your mind". with a band name and a song name like that, you might guess that this came out in 1967, and you'd be absolutely right! this slice of psychedelic turbulence is the perfect way to start off this compilation.

next up (track #2) we have captain crunch and the crew (i wonder if they ever got a cease & desist order from Quaker Oats' lawyers?) and their irresistable song "nowadays people". i just LOVE the wonderfully naive social commentary lyrics coupled with some absolutely mind-melting fuzz guitar! i found myself listening to this one over and over again!

track #4 features a canadian band who called themselves the stonemen and their song "in the evening". these canucks came up with some really unsettling sounds and one absolutely explosive guitar break on this cut. check it out!

track #6 is the song "illusions of a party" by fox and the roadrunners. this is a really good example of a "soul" band trying to get into the psychedelic groove, man!

track #7 is a song called "hurry" by a band called famen. i absolutely LOVE this track but i can't really explain why. i just know that i love it, and thats good enough!

track #8 is a band called golden grass and their song "elastic soldier". the singer utilizes a cool half-spoken vocal style which results in a very interesting song. track #9 was the flipside of the preceeding track and finds the singer using a more straight-forward singing style this time.

those canadian boys the stonemen turn up again on track #10 and their amazing song "faded colors". from the jarring machine-gun shards of fuzz guitar that open the song, to the zoned-out vocals, this one really stands out as a true find!

track #18 is a band called grapple and their song "snail". this band was once called the "five canadians" (even though they hailed from san antonio, TX --- i don't know-your guess is as good as mine!) who gave us the wonderful garage nugget "writing on the wall" --- but apparently they really went downhill after that because this is one of the dumbest and most mind-numbingly boring songs i have ever heard! i could see jonathan richman maybe being able to turn this into a fun song but oh boy...