High All the Time

Performer: Various Artists
Distributor: MSI Music Distribution

Notes: In the minds of a great many record collectors, there's a fine line between garage rock and psychedelic rock, and this collection of rare single sides is clearly meant for this breed of fan. HIGH ALL THE TIME (which originally circulated as a gray-market LP in the tradition of PEBBLES and BACK FROM THE GRAVE) brings together 14 vintage acid punk sides, with stomping beats and fuzztone guitars sitting side by side with sitar-like feedback squeals, percolating melodic lines, and lyrics that suggest both positive and negative aspects of recreational consciousness expansion. Given that most pure psych tunes tended to stretch out quite a bit, the fact these 14 songs zip by in just 42 minutes is a dead giveaway that this leans to the garage side of the formula. But numbers like "Quasar 45" by the Sun Lightning Incorporated, "City Jungle, Part 2" by the Beautiful Daze, and "Author's Message" by Hobbit do conjure up an impressive level of what Frank Zappa once called "out-freakage," and the nameless compilers have rounded up material that hasn't yet worn out its welcome in collectors' circles. And while the majority of these acts were from the United States, there are also some hard-to-find tunes from Holland (the Tower, Dragonfly) and Sweden (the Shakers) that give this set a bit of welcome international flavor. This isn't the first or best collection of high-grade psychedelic garage punk, but it's still fun and heady stuff for folks who dig their fuzz with a bit of a sparkly edge.

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