Monday, November 14, 2022

Strange - Souvenir Album (1974-78 us, fusion underground art psych rock, 2009 reissue)



The Strange were an underground art-rock band from Olympia, WA, close to the Canadian border. Tom Hackett, Robert Rensel, David Chamberlain, Rick Rackleff plus Mike Pitcher, Don Morris & Carl Dexter recorded the Souvenir Album over a period of several years, and it was finally released in a tiny pressing in 1976 on the Yantis Record label. With a touch of the West Coast sound and lots of Mothers Of Invention influences, this album is just as special as The Spoils Of War and as complex as Time and Think Dog, with Zappa-style wah-wah/flange guitar, great vocals, piano, effects, some horns, and a well-balanced mixture of heavy psych guitar tracks and twisted underground folk tunes. 
Tracks
1. Segment from Barapp (9-75) - 1:14
2. Somebody - 6:10
3. The Ballad of Hollis Spaceman - 7:06
4. Four Eyes - 5:39
5. Segment from Barapp - 0:41
6. Segment from on Winning the War / A Faced Dream - 4:18
7. Rick's Song (Rick Rackleff) - 2:30
8. Segment from Mushroom Wednesday / Lies by Poetic License - 5:37
9. Twelve Boats (Tom Hackett) - 5:05
10.The Last Song - 4:31
All compositions by David Chamberlain except where stated

Personnel
*Carl Dexter - Vocals, Bass
*David Chamberlain - Guitar, Vocals
*Tom Hackett - Twelve-String Guitar
*Robert Rensel - French Horn, Keyboards, Vocals
*Rick Rackleff - Bongos, Drums, Organ
*Don Morris - Bass, Saxophone, Vocals
*Ron Redifer - Drums
*Jim Eager - Drums