专辑简介

by Mark DemingIf nothing else, you have to give a hand to the folks at Digital Cellars Records for scholarship. When the Elastik Band's infamous 1967 single "Spazz" began appearing on garage rock compilations back in the late '70s, the band was regarded as a complete mystery, and even when the cut appeared on the exhaustive Nuggets box set in 1998, annotator Mike Stax didn't have much to say about them except that they were from Belmont, CA and after releasing a second single they seemingly disappeared. But The Elastik Band collects a whopping 20 tunes from these fabled weirdos, more than most folks ever imagined existed, along with a brief but well-detailed liner essay on their short-lived career (including strange record label dealings, public outcry over their almost-hit, and a private gig playing for a famous organized crime figure). Truth to tell, most folks looking for more of the sneering thunder and gleeful bad taste that made "Spazz" so memorable will be disappointed; much of the material here is actually tuneful and well-crafted pop/rock with folkie or psychedelic overtones, and while these guys certainly display a sense of humor on oddball numbers like "Popcorn," there isn't anything else here that approaches the sound or approach of their most famous number. Lead guitarist Scott Williams shows off some impressive skills, the arrangements are clever and distinctive (especially the mixture of David Cortopassi's four- and seven-string guitars and Russell Kerger's piano), the vocal harmonies are superb, and the best songs suggest sunshine pop with something just a little bit wrong around the edges. The Elastik Band may not be the great lost-'60s garage punk band you'd expect, but judging from this collection they were talented guys deserving of re-appraisal and a more accurate perspective on their body of work. (As a bonus, this disc includes an aircheck of an Australian DJ pulling "Spazz" off the air two-thirds of the way through its first and last airing on 2UW.)