Mandragora - Head First. 1991 England

There was a time - in the early days of the UK Festival Psych movement - that Mandragora were one of the bigger names of the scene. Perhaps only second to Ozric Tentacles in name recognition. But by the end of the 90s, the band more or less died with most of the genre. And are now largely forgotten. Which is really too bad.

Head First is Mandragora's second proper album, and possibly their first fully realized one. It's disparate in style, but unmistakably Festival Psych. For example 'Pendulum & the Pit' is a solid hard rock number, not too far removed from a late era Hawkwind sound (the aforementioned were Mandragora's idols). 'Talking to God (Pt 2)' is one of the more wacky pieces here, very psychedelic with phasing, warbled voices, and wicked fuzz guitar. 'Raga' goes out East for the obligatory Indian psych trip. Both 'Yesterday's Tomorrow' and the title track offer the best representation of the album as a whole, and includes all of which they bring forth here. 'Grooving in the Dog House' gives us a glimpse to their sound at the end of the decade - more electronica and less rock influenced.

Overall a very solid entry into the English late 80s/early 90s psychedelic underground. I've owned this CD since it first came out, and it only gets better with age.

Ownership: CD: 1991 Resonance. Jewel case.

1991 (first listen); 1/1/19 (review / new entry)