A young group from the Boston area -- in fact, none of the members looked to be older than 15 -- Flat Earth Society
recorded a rare album in 1968 that became a prime collectible two or
three decades later. This was probably based more on its rarity than the
actual music, as the record was marketed by Waleeco candy bars -- you
could mail-order the album with half a dozen candy wrappers and $1.50.
Those consumers that took advantage of the offer were rewarded with
competent, but somewhat generic, psychedelic rock, with the prominent
electric keyboards that were characteristic of much of the Boston sound.
Some Doors influence could be heard, perhaps, in the minor-hued melodies, and some Jefferson Airplane in the harmonies; to throw in an obscure reference, it's a bit like a garage version of H.P. Lovecraft. The record has since been reissued, making the transition to CD in the 1990s.(Richie Unterberger, allmusic.com)
Having
read the previous review of this album, it's time to set the record
straight. Firstly, their cover of the midnight hour [all the other songs
are originals] is a fair effort. I wouldn't call it either dreadful or
fantastic.
But I would call the haunting, eerie "Dark Street
Downtown" fantastic..a masterpiece with its distinctive vocals and piano
accompaniment supported by lyrics of the finest order. Turn the lights
out, light the candles and just listen.Breathtaking stuff!! Very Baroque
and very beautiful.
This standard is maintained on "Prelude For
The Town Monk", another Jack Kerivan composition and with equally
thought- provoking lyrics.A young man in his late teens getting his
message across in the most literate of ways and with a voice to match
any before or since in Rock.
His third contribution is
"Shadows", an uptempo, organ-driven number but with the same haunting mood
of "Dark Street". The rest of the songs are written by Jack Kerivan and
Phil Dubuque or Jack Kerivan and Rick Doyle. The latter collaboration
contains two excellent instrumentals of a laid-back, psychedelic nature,
"Portrait in Grey" and "Satori". Some nice phasing and experimentation
that rounded off an excellent debut[and sadly only]album.
If you
like Folk Rock, you'll like The Flat Earth Society. If you like
Baroque, similarly.Psychedelic, garagey, quite a mix in this album..as the
band themselves say "no particular bag at all''.(amazon customer)
Also here is an audio adventure called ''The Space Kids ''. The space
kids material, which features backing music from the seminal boston
60's outfit called The Lost. This was apparently never released, it was
done for a local pbs station. This fine band, whose recordings i
recommend, featured future members of bands such as ultimate spinach,
listening, bagatelle, and even the latest, much derided, version of the Velvet Underground! Names like walter powers , lee mason, kyle garrahan,
and willie alexander. The last is still well known in Boston today. (excerpt of a custom review at amazon)
The Waleeco album is a fine piece of psychedelic rock and i like it very much. Also great tracks are the songs for the audio adventure ''The Lost Space Kids''. Very different very good. I really recommend to give it a listen.
Enjoy
Frank Flac part 1 & Flac part 2 & Flac part 3 - mp3@320
