THE BOOGALOO INVESTIGATORS
Let The Groove Move You / I Got The Feelin' (Defunkt; 45)
     The top side of this funky platter is a Gus Lewis groove, and is covered here with a high degree of polished expertise. The feisty syncopated drums come across like the lead instrument with the equally on the money bass line making this an engine room winner! The rawness and presence of the whole was achieved by laying down the drums/bass/guitar live and overdubbing vocals and organ. There's a sassy keys section at the middle eight which is an addition to the original. The reserved 'less is more' approach of the guitar rhythm and the group supported, lithe throated Richard Rinn lead vocal helps blend the whole. 'I Got The Feelin'' is a James Brown cover and originally a vocal number, but here sees Rinn switch mouth duties to a razor-sharp blues harp style for this instrumental groove with the keys contributing intermittent lead flourishes. Like the top side, this is precision perfect funkdom, which suggests many hours in the rehearsal room! Overall, both these tunes bite hard and have a real authentic period feel that leaps off the wax. You could comp these up with anything out of the late 60s - early 70s and never know the difference. Anyone with dancing feet and sixteen funky corners to exercise them in will want to slap this on the deck pronto!
www.boogalooinvestigators.co.uk
richard@boogalooinvestigators.co.uk
Paul Martin

CAMAROS
Romantique (Black Balloon; CD)
     It'd be nice to imagine a situation where the members of Killdozer hadn't just gone back to hickville after that god-like combo disbanded, but instead had taken their huge, concrete-cracking assault on to another level. And here's my little fantasy incarnate in Camaros! A power trio based in Halden, Norway (home of another late great group, The Basement Brats), they have all the power of Wisconsin's finest harnessed to a speedier, more riff-driven set of songs. As with Michael Gerald of the 'Dozer, it's Karianne Stenbock's bass-playing that really makes the sound, and it's mixed up VERY high, functioning almost as a second guitar in the way that Sissy Schulmeister used to dominate Alice Donut's albums. But let's not give the impression that the bands are merely grindcore revivalists, as that's far from the case. This is full on hard rock, with some seriously old-school titles and lyrics. How long is it since anyone's called a song 'Cheesecake' or 'Poon tang'? And not in some naff ironic way neither...good on you guys! There's even a cowbell on the aforementioned 'Poon tang'. Musically, they probably have a spiritual kinship with Britain's own Ten Benson, and like the Benson I bet they absolutely destroy live. You know when music has certain frames of reference but doesn't instantly prompt a whole bunch of direct aural comparisons that a band is onto something. This record is a bona-fide example of a band producing a genuine melange of 'classic rock' and newer influences, something which is often aspired to, but seldom achieved with as much style as Camaros have managed here. Oh, and there's a secret track too, 'Put 'Em On', which unlike most is actually worth leaving the CD playing on for. 
www.camarosrock.com
www.blackballoonrecords.com
Jane Farrell

CRYPT-O-RAMA (Fanzine)      Neat A5 'zine from Greece that is written in English and covers all manner of new garage punk bands via interviews, reviews and features. This issue (#7) has pieces on The Ultra 5, Big Boss Man, Surfing Lungs, Dangermen and many more bands of a punky, trashy and '60s garage inspired nature. If interested in what fuzz and screams are going down now, this is a must.
Christopher Kakkos
Morkentaou 17
16232 Byronas
Athens 
Greece

DUNGEN
Stadsvandringar (Dolores/Virgin Sweden; CD)
     E-mail exchange between Shindig! ubergruppenfuhrer Jon 'Mojo' Mills and myself:

JF: 'This album is so great - I love it! It's like 'Crystal Tipps & Alastair' music; real 1970s animated children's TV stuff'
Mojo: 'And the Swedish lyrics sound like elves in the snow'
JF: 'actually, you remember the scene with the dwarves dancing round Stonehenge in Spinal Tap? THIS is the music that should have accompanied them!' 
Mojo: 'Stoned-'enge!'
JF: 'There's some pictures of Dungen-bloke (Gustav Ejstes) knocking around with a blonde hippy gal on the website. Very Kevin Ayers circa Whatevershebringswesing. I don't actually want to know what he's singing about...the sound of the lyrics becomes another part of the appeal of the songs'.
Mojo: 'I reckon his life is like the movie Together... lots of sex, some meatballs, a dip in an ice cold lake, a sauna followed by being beaten by twigs, and then returning home for rotten fish and dill. Heavenly!'

     Before we end up on the business end of a kicking from any Scandinavians reading the above cornucopia of Nordic stereotypes, let's get serious and point out that this is yet another winner from the house of Dolores, who with Hakan Hellstrom, Nicolai Dunger, Caesar's Palace and now Dungen, seem to have cornered the market in great-neo-psych/folk/garage-music-from-Sweden. Dungen (not a band, actually Mr Ejstes with backing musicians) veers all over the place musically. The title track is hippy-dippy pop complete with 'di-de-da' chorus, but 'Andre Sidan Sjon' uses flute and sitar to the point that - were it not for the modern production values - the song could have emerged straight from 1967, and 'Vem Vaktar Lejonen' is a Hammond and fuzz-laden Vanilla Fudge-style rock out. 'Sol Och Regn' starts off rather like The Kinks' 'Living On A Thin Line' before shifting into some wordless electric folk with Tudor instrumentation. The Kevin Ayers comparison is probably a valid one in terms of the variety and experimentation involved, though Dungen is far more upbeat and less dark than the Cambridge genius. This record just inspires happiness. Lovely songs, beautifully played. Every home should have a copy.
www.dungen.info
www.hotstuff.se
Jane Farrell

MOPHO
Mopho (Baratos Afins; CD)
     There's been some underground hype about these guys, who have been compared very heavily to Os Mutantes. It's a comparison that the band greatly relishes as they cite Os Mutantes as their major influence, but in truth Mopho's sound is much more grounded than that of their Brazilian mentors. Mopho is more along the lines of late period Beatles, but to be sure there are flashes of psychedelia swimming throughout the album. From the sprightly pop of 'Nada Val Mudar' and 'Tao Longe' to the slow, bass heavy 'Nao Mande Flores' to the Magical Mystery Tour-esque 'A Gelaadeira' to the heavier psych of 'Ela Me Deu Um Beijo' and 'Eu Quero Tudo,' the band handles every shade of psychedelia with aplomb and style. Things don't get truly whacked out until the album's final track, 'Vamos Curtir Um Barato (Meu Bem),' which appears to be divided into sections (there are gaps between each passage, and two minutes of white noise at the end), some of which would make it seem like Mopho has ingested the same lysergics as Arnaldo and the boys did back in the day. The album is sung in the band's native Portugeuse, but hey-most psychedelic lyrics don't make much sense no matter what language they're sung in!
     It's only because the promotional machines that operate in Brazil are not very sophisticated that this album has not been written about in all the hip publications; so if you're reading about it here first, consider yourself on the cutting edge. Grab this disc while you still can! 
www.mopho.hpg.ig.com.br or contact Luiz Calanca at baratosafins@baratosafins.com.br.
David Bash

THE NEDERBIETELS
Can't You See / Girl / It's Gone / Buried And Dead (Klootzak; 45)
     'A tribute to Nederbiet indeed, but around the session dates we had only been together for seven weeks,' my old mate Dave Don Porro tells me on a note that accompanies this corkin' lil' EP. 'We are working on our own songs these days, some classics coming up as well our first LP. Despite the name, The Nederbietels are a serious hard working band…' 'nuff said Dave, I can hear the evidence. Okay, so they're covers. But they're done blindingly well and are proof enough that when in such good hands this music will never sound bad, dated or go out of fashion! Corkin'! Too many modern garage/beat bands are crap, so thank the lord for such units as The Nederbietels. Grab both their EPs now and watch this space for band info.
nederbietels@hotmail.com
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

THE NERVE
Seeds From The Electric Garden (Detour; CD)
     Of all the modern psychedelic pop bands to grace our CD players (or turntables), The Nerve is one of the few who really hit the, ahem, nerve of authenticity. These songs were recorded between 1992 and 1994, shortly after The Nerve made their name playing various stages around England. Seeds From The Electric Garden is an excellent collection of West Coast U.S.-inflected tunes that capture several of the nuances that has made this kind of music timeless. Fans of '60s pop/psych in general and of The Grip Weeds in particular will love gems like 'Crystal Candy Girl', 'House Of David', and 'Thru The Looking Glass' while others like 'White Flower', with Chris Cawdron's Hammond organ at its base, would have been great as part of a soundtrack of a late '60s teen-sploitation movie. The light and breezy 'Mr. Smile' would have fit nicely on the U.S. Smoke album (the band with Michael Lloyd at the helm), 'Dragonfly' has stellar harmonies, and the dreamy 'Seeds From The Electric Garden' is resplendent with the kind of harpsichord lines that we love so much. The only gripe here is the choice to open the album with a cover of 'Open My Eyes'; it's never a wise choice to start an album of otherwise original tunes with a cover because it appears that the band isn't as proud of their originals as they should be, and in this particular case the cover is kinda limp, putting a little bit of a blemish on what is otherwise a wonderful disc.
     Nerve vocalist/guitarist Michael Poulson and drummer Andy Morten are now the main men of the fine band, Bronco Bullfrog. 
www.detour-records.co.uk
David Bash

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Pull Up The Paisley Covers: A Psychedelic Omnibus (Aether; CD)
     Something of mixed bag this one. The idea is sound, get a bunch of groups and performers together to record their favourite psych numbers (all these tunes have been especially recorded for this CD). Somehow though it doesn't really gel for me. There are two camps on this disc. One is comprised of groups and the other of solo performers and the odd duo and there are good and bad in both fields.
     Taking them as they come, California duo Sunseri make an intriguing reworking of The Doors 'Peace Frog' / 'Blue Monday' (fragment), coming on like Portishead, all vocal, drum, bass lo-fi simplicity, interesting but not perhaps the best opener for a set such as this. Next up Boston's Abunai! do a great power pop take on the Stones's 'Citadel'. Then New Orleans's Zane Armstrong (responsible for the widely discussed Walter Ghoul's Lavender Brigade) attempts the Apple's 'The Other Side'. Whilst the effects are nice, it doesn't work for me. I have never been able to feel comfortable with the 'one man plays all' approach of portastudio and / or multi tracking as used here. The whole just sounds like the sum of its parts, usually as here, the drums and vocals (the top and tail as it were of the production) sound too weak or flat and lacks the intensity the song needs. The same is true of Sweden's Peter Scion's treatment of The Fox's 'Butterfly', a sincere attempt no doubt, but it still sounds flaccid. Big Beat label boss's Alex Palao's band Mushroom are next up and offer a perfectly serviceable and authentic sounding rendition of Jefferson Airplane's 'You're Only As Pretty As You Feel'. 
     Some of the best tunes on this disc are the lighter more acid folk songs. Hence New York trio The Wylde Old Soul's treatment of Caroline Hester's 'High Flying Bird' is a delightful acoustically driven, rhythmic tabla song with a lovely male / female vocal. Damien Youth's take on the Bee Gee's 'Kilburn Towers' is one of the few solo performances which cuts the mustard, so cool in fact, I wanted more once it ended; acoustically driven with minimal instrumentation, and a god vocal. Bevis Frond follow with a version of The Syn's 'Grounded' and whilst Nick Salamon's sustained acid guitar work is wonderful, the rest sounds somewhat subservient to it rather than framing it. Normandy's Murder In The Cathedral give a disarmingly lackadaisical and lo-fi performance of The Who's 'The Good's Gone', then all of a sudden the lead guitar picks up and we're off, like a caffeine shot after a heavy night's drinking! Australia's Sand Pebbles provide one of the CDs highlights with their take on the Masters Apprentices 'Living in a Child's Dream', a six minute gem that really plays to the CD's title. Oregon's UHF provide a poptastic and suitably lysergic reading of the Pretty Things 'She's A Lover', whilst Chicago's Taurus took an obscure track by an obscure artist ('The Garden' by Ed Askew) and did God knows what with it. Allegedly recorded 'under the influence', if so, all I can say is the drugs sure don't work anymore. Once straight surely this would have seemed like a bad idea?! In some circles this would seem suitable avant-garde I expect but it just sounds like banal meandering tunelessness to me! New York's Diana Senechal presents us with a delightful version of Linda Perhacs' 'Parallelograms', another acid folk beauty, with a vocal not unlike Chimera or Mellow Candle; brooding, atmospheric and cello inflected. It sounds as if she starts to lose the plot a little toward the end, but regains it with aplomb, a fave of mine on this set. Likewise the P.G.Six who delight with their reading of the Incredible String Band's 'My Name Is Death'. Israel's Rockfour as might be expected, turn in a spiffing performance of The Churchill's 'Song From The Sea', marred only by the rather pointless random blowing into a recorder and the rather listless ending. Japan's Kaminumada Yohji, end the set with a brief (and forgettable) echoed guitar instro 'After The Dream'.
     So, a bit of everything, but I'm only partially satisfied by it. It is one of those discs I would play selectively from rather than all the way through. I would suggest that unless you have as much a liking for the Cornershop 'one person plays everything' multitracking approach (and of course many people quite reasonably do) as any other musical incarnation, approach this one with caution.
Paul Martin