Music from the Merkin Manor (1973)
Where to even start? Merkin are... weird. Not-on-purpose-weird
either. They're from Orem, Utah for starters - right in the heart of
Mormon country. Their album was released in 1973, which is a good five years past its sell date. This kind of flower pop psych was long out of
fashion and I have a feeling the band would have no idea that was the
case. Merkin sound like the Free Design if they were a
real
psych band with a killer fuzz-tone guitar right out of the
Haight-Ashbury 60s scene. Make no mistake, Merkin are a bunch of squares
like Free Design, which is where the allure lies. For years I
questioned the quality of this album, and thought it might be part of
the collector hype machine. Perhaps it still is, as the compositions
here are wildly uneven. But when they hit the zone, it's downright
divine. 'Ruby' is an all-time classic, one of my faves of the 60s (ha). 'Todaze' and 'Watching You' are also awesome, mixing it up
where you least expect it. They have this whimsical sunshine pop charm
about them - mixed with an angry psych tone, that projects their inner
conflict no doubt. The Osmonds they are not.
1999 Akarma (LP). Taken directly from the Gear Fab CD, and is credited / licensed as such. So this is definitely one of their legit reissues. Unfortunately the CD itself was taken from vinyl rather than the master tapes (likely lost). And there is no additional history provided. On the plus side, the three bonus tracks from the CD are maintained, and the first two are very good. Acquired in 2005.
4//05; 2009; 12/19/15 (review)
No comments:
Post a Comment