VA - Brown Acid - The Nineteenth Trip (2024) (Hi-Res)

There is NO LIGHT at the end of this tunnel! BROWN ACID: The Nineteenth Trip fires ten more savage nails deep into the coffin of ‘60s psychedelic idealism. This series is THE premier top dog journey into the rarest and most wasted early local eruptions of heavy rock, unleashed at a time when harsh reality, human nature and disillusionment drove prevailing underground rock glimpses of a ‘better’ world into ever darker selfabsorbed comedowns. Mind expanding ’60s love energies transform into toxic aggression right before your ears! The great thing is that these moves are totally justified, ‘we are all one’ is cosmically good in theory but ‘get it while you can’ ends up perhaps better advice in the light of human history.

Both of those angles of awareness can coexist, some of these bands deliver unrelenting sideways positive energy but they aren’t over-thinking it, they are youthfully driven by hunger for life and satisfying the undeniable urges their DNA thrusts upon them. Sonically, the results in the BROWN ACID series never fail to breathe hot and heavy, the guitars kill it every time, the variety of approaches these tracks take keep the scenery shifting into new places. The key element that makes this stuff so potent is that THEY (the bands) are in control. Captured genuinely with no compromise, right out of the gate. No doubt they had ambition with high hopes for the future when they laid down these primal efforts, the fact that they captured their energy so vividly at a moment in time when the only direction imaginable was UP creates a hard hitting life affirming subtext to the proceedings. That is the core energy of blues and rock and roll, dealing with the struggles of existence by flipping a gigantic ‘what the fuck’ high energy bird right in the face of the moronic defective reality these bands were born into. If you take this stuff too ‘seriously’ you are utterly missing the point, it is beyond analysis, it is life itself! No amount of thinking will get you there quicker! BROWN ACID: The Nineteenth Trip is scary… the bottomless pit of deranged vintage heavy rock the series presents continually expands over time… one deadly dose too many and you might be trapped in the bad trip loop forever… enjoy it or lose your mind!

SIDE ONE:

DICK RABBIT “You Come On Like A Train” is the earliest recording on this ride, 1968 out of Bay City, Michigan, with cutting edge downer explosive heavy fuzz sludge intro moves and killer invasive riff damage akin to top level toxic early Blue Cheer. Keeping it extra real, this band are three biological brothers Gordon, Phil and Rich Thayer. In sync with the jaw dropping heavy guitar riff are terrific lyrics like “I can see things inside your brain”, “I can hear things I can’t see” and “I can see things I can’t touch… give it to me”… total bypass romance, cut to the chase girl grabber action with the cocky attitude only a young dude fresh on the hunt can pull off with no hint of stalker creepiness. To top it off the guitar break has full on echoing Jimi moves. This track resides in the perfect sweet spot where psychedelic action morphs into wasted proto downer hard rock. Dick Rabbit also had an impossibly rare second 45 issued in 1969 where they cover Donovan’s 1966 acid classic “The Trip” (spelled charmingly wrong as ‘Donavan’ on the label). Extra cred in my book for having such an outrageous band name for 1968!

BLIZZARD “Be Myself” out of Oklahoma City in 1974 makes a solid case for toughening up your attitude towards society, how I live is “not yours to decide” I’m gonna be myself, fuck off if you can’t dig that. The backup vocals emphasize the theme of the song by repeating the title, an instant in-your-head mega hook perfectly offset by the gnarly guitar attacks. One of the key elements on this and most of the tracks on The Nineteenth Trip is the fully engaged drumming, not merely keeping the beat, flying all over the place like another lead instrument kicking ass in a street fight!

FOX “Sun City - Part II” was unleashed in 1969, a very rare 45 on the Studio 10 label out of San Francisco, same label and year as the better known Day Blindness LP led by guitar/vocalist Gary Pihl. The Hammond organ psychy dosed proto heavy vibe of the LP is surpassed here brutally as Gary strips the sound down to a two chord fried power trio stalker, deranged in your face vocal attitude, inscrutable lyrics, a primitive no frills guitar break with an arrogant abrasive tone. Gary Pihl later found fame by joining the classic rock band Boston… this crude toxic burner is as far removed from that highly produced radio friendly sound as imaginable… it goes straight for the throat, no tarting things up for chart success, the undiluted real deal. You can smell the gritty vibe here as vividly as you can hear it!

SWEET WINE “Bringing Me Back Home” expands the variety of early hard rock action on The Nineteenth Trip backwards into time. No psychedelic comedown hangover here, this track is straight up bluesy boogie shuffle rock about being on the road and needing to get down with his woman back home. Issued in 1970 in Virginia, Minnesota with southern rock moves more appropriate to Virginia the state… actually bands like this were sprouting up locally everywhere in the country north south east west at the time, so uncannily similar in their roots rocking bar band sound that they flash on some secret ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ style plot to bring rock out of the pipe dreams of psychedelia and back home to women and booze.

ENOCH SMOKEY “Roll Over Beethoven” is sequenced perfectly after Sweet Wine to close out side one with more twisted roots inflected rocking. The Chuck Berry classic feels like an odd side trip from the general thrust of Brown Acid post ‘60s downer derangement material but in keeping with the wide variety of proto hard rock styles these wide-angle trips present, it fits right in. They attack the song from a new angle, retaining some glimmers of its original rock and roll oldie feel but changing everything else up in light of the times, 1969 out of Iowa City on Pumpkin Seed Records. They retool the structure, change up the drums, add a cool descending chord section to the break with the guitar ripping it up throughout in hard rock overkill style, leaving the classic Berry guitar moves out of the picture. That’s what makes it seem familiar and new at the same time, nice job of fucking with perspective.

SIDE TWO:

FLIGHT “Get You” is the flip side to the awesome “Luvin’, Huggin’ & More” which appeared on The Sixth Trip. Vic Blecman is the legendary genius behind this ludicrously cool come on song, the vocals are ridiculously to the point, the guitars crunching it up. It gets right in your head like you already know it the first time you hear it. Vic was in the ‘60s garage band the Cavemen, was a DJ on WGCL radio in Cleveland, and issued some wacky space novelty 45s some years after this double sided killer emerged from Elyria, Ohio in 1974. He also owned a swinging singles adult disco there… a local renaissance man hustler in true American entrepreneur style!

QUICK FOX “Indian” out of Berkshire in western Massachusetts in 1978 has the only ‘60s psychedelic embers still sizzling prominently undisguised on this trip. The guitar attack flashes back to late ‘60s Wild West coast cross talk turf like Moby Grape, Tripsichord, Quicksilver with some rudimentary progressive ambitions and trebly power chords, dual guitar weavings with no hint of bluesy attitude in the wistful dark vocal arrangements. It’s a haunted and reflective lament for the fate of the Indians on the surface, but the jacked up high energy tension in the stormy musical undercurrent supercharges those harmonies with urgency. Gnarly but lyrical guitar patterns hallucinate this guitar feast right out of space and time, taking this Nineteenth Trip back into some bleak disillusioned lost world that can only be escaped by giving up on the dream this series continually sabotages.

BONJOUR AVIATORS “The Fury In Your Eyes” obliterates whatever mystical fumes are left hanging in the air from the previous track and shoves you headfirst into dive bar woman trouble. The guitar riffs are raw and basic with scattershot licks flying about as the singer struts his stuff and it backfires, he pisses the chick off as indicated by the name of the song. The title ‘The Fury In Your Eyes’ is repeated over and over in classic genius bonehead fashion, a hook that misses the mark in any remotely musically clever manner but totally wins the day as it is so brilliantly matched to the words. Quick Fox were on the scene in Boston in 1976, playing at the Rat alongside bands like the Real Kids and DMZ that were carrying the torch of ‘60s and early hard rock locally in the slump years between the original ‘60s garage and hard rock explosion and the emergence of the late ‘70s street rock, punk and power pop scenes. You can hear some radio-friendly moves in the guitar breaks but otherwise these guys keep it raw. They also have a dose of glam rock star attitude in the mix… the pic sleeve includes a credit for their hair dresser!

CEDRIC “I’m Leavin’” is a work of utterly primitive savage genius, the crudest track on the Nineteenth Trip, not only capable of blowing the groovy ‘60s hippie chick flower power love world into oblivion… these dudes throw a wrecking ball into even the possibility of having meaningful relationships. This jaw dropper is an early effort by the Totty brothers, Dennis and Byron, issued on the local Tulsa, Oklahoma label Derrick, which also released the mega rare Marble Phrogg LP. The brothers made a killer private press hard rock LP in the mid ‘70s using the name Totty and scored big time gigs opening for bands like ZZ Top and Grand Funk Railroad back in the day. BUT… wrap your head around this, what a way to kick your career off! They play with a minimal unfiltered brash intensity that makes even calling this track a ‘song’ seem fancy and uptight. It’s more like a semi-conscious primal youth rant fest dominated by harsh aggressive rhythm guitar with hyper scattershot stormy drumming topped off by a vocal that reaches the pinnacle of deluded confusion… the girl he takes home from the party is seriously messing up his head even though he’s getting exactly what he wants, his own attitude and depiction of her are both totally fucked up, as fucked up and powerful as the primal noise this whole mess assaults you with. The lyrics and vocal delivery are truly deranged, you’ll see! Prime example of capturing the core essence of hard rock in such an unfiltered way it feels like the first time every time into eternity. Not a record here… real life on rampage!

ZANE “Step Aside” takes things in a way different direction to close out the Nineteenth Trip, shifting gears totally from the brutal garage intensity of the previous track. It’s time to escape off into space! Zane come on like some lowball sci-fi B-movie out of Malmo, Sweden in 1976, a bizarre stew of sounds to finish the ride. ‘Step Aside’ uses a hypnotic fuzz buzz minimal two chord groove to locate it somewhere in the outer limits of mad scientist lab progressive trance rock with double-time hi-hat moves, cheap electronic effects, synth gurgles all evoking an alienated futuristic Krautrock/Hawkwind space rock zone leaning into early glimmerings of DIY pre-punk/wave humor and weirdness. The fake progressive moves herein come off more like burlesque and that’s a compliment, key to the appeal of the track. It’s knowingly outrageous, an entertaining pose where the vocals intentionally wind you up into an ominous but funny sense of lurking doom. Analyzing it will just spin you in circles, surrender to the preposterousness and I guarantee this bonkers slice of insanity will get you cracking up in the best possible way!

Tracklist
1. Dick Rabbit – You Come On Like A Train (02:49)
2. Blizzard – Be Myself (03:28)
3. Sun City – Sun City (Part II) (03:01)
4. Sweet Wine – Bringing Me Back Home (02:29)
5. Enoch Smoky – Roll Over Beethoven (03:30)
6. Flight – Get You (02:30)
7. Quick Fox – Indian (04:23)
8. Bonjour Aviators – The Fury In Your Eyes (03:12)
9. Cedric – I'm Leavin' (03:32)
10. Zane – Step Aside (04:13)