(((O))) Review: Various Artists – Brown Acid: The Twentieth Trip

As we wait in three weeks for the release of Rise Above Relics’ compilation, Lee Dorrian’s sub-label to Rise Above Records, delving into the heaviest, nastiest, and unearthed material from the most obscure UK rock bands that were following in the footsteps of the mighty Sabbath in the 1970s in a compilation called Yeah Man, It’s Bloody Heavy!!, Its always great to see the Riding Easy label continuing the Brown Acid series covering their next trip which is their 20th roller-coaster ride with more local harder eruptions that just comes out of the woodwork by proving that metal is more than just a five-letter word.

These tracks covering from the garage rock, psychedelic ‘60s landscapes, hard rockin’ guitar energy, these tracks are like searching for a diamond in the rough when it comes to finding obscure gems that were often under the radar as the big names like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Uriah Heep were riding high with critical success. Going through the 20th trip from the Brown Acid series, it’s more and more of the heavy nuggets that these bands never gotten the recognition they truly deserve.

Los Angeles based Banana Bros’ ‘Suck You In’ gets into that Southern rock funk with a soulful attitude, followed by blaring guitars, riffs that speak of Luv Machine’s ‘Witches Wand’, intensive drum parts, heavy organs, and a stereo mix that’ll make your jaw-drop, nonstop as if to say, “What the hell was that? This is something!” Hot Candy rips up the Rod Evans-era of Deep Purple with a tough enough arrangement as if it was recorded between 1968 and 1970 on ‘Darkened Passage’.

They could’ve knocked Zeppelin out of the ballpark, but there are some strong sections of ‘Emmaretta’ that comes to mind when you listen to it as the guitar break brings in the sections of Ritchie Blackmore’s fast-pacing textures for a brief moment then delving into a spiritual guidance into the unknown. But it’s the Page-like motiq that makes it worth headbanging into.

We head into the heart of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico in 1971 with the Mancilla brothers (Eric, Ricardo, and Marco) pouring their souls into the Garage-Punk attitude as Polvo in a sinister overtone for ‘Have You Ever Been There?’ Despite its rough quality, the Mancilla brothers followed by Roberto Martinez on drums add in the shock and electrical vibes to burst through the volcanic eruption in which it’s about to explode thanks to Eric heavy guitar work, crying out into the night.

Listening to Missouri’s own Osage Lute which would later evolve into Back Jack, ‘Watch ‘em Shine’ is proto-prog metal at its best. Through its nod to bands such as Leaf Hound and unknown band from the West Midlands’ rock & blues scene of the mid-to-late ‘60s known as Possessed, brings to mind ‘Freelance Fiend’ and two tracks from Possessed; ‘Darkness, Darkness’ and ‘Climb the Wooden Hills’. Osage themselves bring into a bluesy, laid-back grooves in the midsection, giving a calm relaxation before coming out of the tunnels like a cannon blast, sending in this tidal-waving effect between guitars and drums going at full speed.

Before they went disco in 1977 with the known band as Niteflyte, Miami-based Sandy Torano & The Nimo Spliff’s 1970 track ‘A Year Ago Today’ is a blistering, skull-crunching attitude which speaks of The Seeds’ Sky Saxon motif. Listening to this track, it could’ve been used in Lenny Kaye’s Nuggets compilation. You have to love the nods to not just The Seeds and the 13th Floor Elevator’s Roky Erickson, but another UK psych-garage band called The Attack which featured guitarist John Du Cann of Andromeda and Atomic Rooster, and their song ‘Mr. Pinnodmy’s Dilemma’.

Speaking of Garage-Rock, Afterflash’s take of ‘Cookbook’ with its acid-soaked fuzz guitar, opens the compilation up with a big bang. Taking us on a Technicolor daydream, Afterflash’s arrangements are like nothing you’ve ever heard. This isn’t just unknown gems; these are rarities that would make your skin crawl. The last two tracks get even grittier and down to business.

Illinois rockers Flavor go into this metal-edge sound with a ‘Hot and Tot Woman’. Heavy riffs, reminiscent of Megadeth’s ‘Symphony of Destruction’ that brings to mind and bits of T. Rex thrown in the middle. I can imagine Dave Mustaine must have listened to these guys and paid homage to them to show how much he was listening to more than the big names that I’ve mentioned earlier.

Closing out more of the Acid Trip’s is Arizona’s Frozen Sun with a laid-back psych fuzz once more on ‘Jamm Part 1’. Listening to this track, it’s almost this hectic freak-out party that’s occurring between the Fillmore East and West and the Whisky A Go-Go where everything starts to click, right there and then. The drums are very much like pre-proto-swinging vibrations, wah-wah improv, rockabilly, nods to the intro of the Ren & Stimpy show, its everything on this bad boy.