Pete Kember and Jason Pierce formed in the early 80's Spacemen 3 and brought back (neo-)psychedelia to our ears. Starting on their first album with covers by 13th Floor Elevators, The Stooges and Juicy Lucy to find their own psychedelia road on their second album The Perfect Prescription in 1987. They said about their concept album it is "a vision of a drug trip from inception to its blasted conclusion, highs and lows fully intact.". This is a very good description how to describe their sound. Trained by psychedelic heroes from the past both transformed it in a unique sound other bands live on this sound until today. Songs between Walking With Jesus a song with two chords and almost close to a perfect song and Take Me To The Other Side a psychedelic song starting slowly and turning to a feedback orgy. Probably one of the best second albums ever.
Another forgotten band are The Heads, a band formed in Bristol in the early 90's and active until 2002. Far away from the sound Bristol stamped in the 90's they played a post-psychedelic sound inspired by heavy blues but with ingredients of The Stooges. They were know for long improvisations and a massive sound. It is no surprise that John Peel invited them several times for his session to show their abilities of taking us to a heavy trip into space. Music like this is made today mostly in Scandinavia. Their last album Under Sided was re-released a few days ago including their sessions for John Peel.
Spacemen 3 was an English alternative rock band from Rugby, Warwickshire. It was founded in 1982 by Pete Kember and Jason Pierce. Their style was to be assigned to the space to rock and the shoegazing. In 1991 they resolved and Jason Pierce founded Spiritualized together with Jon Mattock. Besides, they developed from her motto "three chords good - two chords better - one chord best" an independent, uncompromising sound and fell under influence, among the rest, under tape like MC5, The Stooges, 13Th Floor Elevator and The velvet Underground. They released their masterpiece back in 1988 with 'Playing With Fire' an epic album by some weird ones. Differences of opinion between both dominant leaders were every now and then the reason that such an album could originate. It's a compact recording and the gift to their fans. Most of the song on this record were mellow, slower and soft like Spiritualized used to play a few years later. But there was one song on this album that drove me almost crazy when I first listened to it. 'Revolution' is this kind of song you listen for the first time and you'll never forget. A song only played with riffs, echoes and feedback with an steady going bass line (that comes angry to your ears) and lyrics that was written against the politic of Mrs. Thatcher (like most of the bands in this era did). I can remember when I listen to this song for the first time. It was at the end of 1988 and we had in Southern Germany the ability to listen to Alan Bangs (we called him the poor man's John Peel). When he made his last radio show before he was banned from the airplay because his kind of music wasn't compatible to the mainstream he made a two hours set with the music he was influenced and addicted to. Me and a couple of friends listened to this show and I was captured by this song. I thought by myself: This one must be much more an awesome song when you smoked something good.
Tune up loud and give yourself a pleasure while listening to it.
Have a good weekend people
