The Gumshoe Grove

After the response the Michigan Brand Nuggets compilation review/mp3/download got I have no choice but to present another: A Prae-Kraut Pandaemonium Volume 11, yet another ’60s-mining collection of tunes that attempts to find life in the far pockets of the fabled private presses of the era.

Take an unparalleled look at the liner notes, which didn’t come with my used copy — fuckhole! — HERE; it’s worth it, just take a sample:

“Welcome back to the wonderous world of Germanomania. Thanks for encouraging words, praise and criticism. And, no, we’re not a bootleg label, we’re a lick myboots-label. Amen.” 

Prae-Kraut focuses on, as if you couldn’t tell, bands with supposedly proto kraut-rock leanings; that’s a bunch of horse pockey though. This is just another psych/rock/pop comp in German wolf clothing. It isn’t, however, by any stretch a bad one. It is, in fact, right up there with the Nuggets and the Pebbles, rockin’ and-a struttin’ like a rowdy drunk standing next to a jukebox that just ripped into “Smoke on the Water.”

No Deep Purple here, thank the-fuck christ. The supposed “Prae-kraut pandaemonium” scene is just as you always imagined it in your deepest nazi nightmare: very Rock, very Pop, very Fun and very German (think Hasslehoff, think Willem Dafoe [he's German, right?]).

Lots of “whoo-whoo-woo-woo”s and a ton of sincerity afoot; you just don’t find kids as willing to open up lyrically these days — without the cloak of sarcasm/gloom-as-grit/irony/etc. to cushion them — as you did back then (but of course that’s a whole ‘nother article).

Very few synths; lots of jangling … a ton of multi-layer melodies; no songs over 5 minutes … Yeah, whoever labeled this stuff a precursor to prog-rock was applying genre makeup to a face that probably seemed too familiar in light of all the Nugs from the ’60s popping up, seemingly at a higher frequency each year.

Does it really matter though, the huge groundswell of ’60s material? Good shit is good shit. Prae-Kraut has lots of good shit … in it.

As always, I have no fuckin’ idear where to start, so the beginning seems logical ( Trippy!). I’ll rifle through as many of these fab-rags as I can without getting all game-summary on ya. Problem is, every time I listen to this the cruisin’ tunes fly right by me before I can do a classic Gumshoe double-take (“wha-whaaat?”). 

Fuck it … Side A:

•  The Venture 5 instantly deliver a decidedly non-surf-rock jaunt that grinds out a groovy organ line and gallops by quicker than a nifty prize horse;
• Oh lord, lord … The Beat-Nicks produce early Kinks/Cyrkle/early Pink Floyd fab magic with “Feelin’ Sad,” and then, against all odds, trots out a chorus with a different feel altogether, akin to The Who/Creation and awesome in its aggression. Then, that “plunk … plunk … plunk” of a simple, clean chord progression comes back and I’m just glad to be alive. Catchy melody, too … 
• The Mushroams keep the hype alive with a super-pristine cut, “Dely,” full of rave-up Yardbirds-esque jamming that brings the bass up front (you can also hear the four-string fucker going nuts on the verses, truly some innovative playing/phrasing/improvising);
• Four-for-four: The Excelsiors offer up a toast to echo-vocal triumph with “Don’t Need No Other” (Why do I even bother to write out these song titles? They were always the same back then … ) and rock it out poor-man’s-Mamas & Pappas/Spanky & The Gang-style, clutching their mics tight and hitting their high notes, just barely;
• Finally a DUD that makes me want to … aww hell, “Creation” — via The Image — is pretty goddamn good, too. I keep waiting for that classic compilation let-down to happen and I’m pleasantly surprised to say the trip is still vivid, my senses livid as ever;
• “You Never Try” by The Gentlemen is a tough nut to crack (ouch). It sounds so familiar-but-distant; normally that quality links me to a track like two pieces of sausage, but in this case I’m baffled at how non-plussed I am. Still not a bad tune. “You Never Try” would probably sound ass-jammin’ if it were played alongside a bunch of crap;
• At this point, I feel there’s some fatigue setting in, so I am going to stand up for a second, take a drink of water and compose myself …

I’m back and the needle has hit Side B. My thoughts:

•  ”Hurt It” by The Strangers is the first song on the comp with almost no redeeming value. Too many more like this and I’m liable to cut my own dick off, or do something extreme to dull the pain. Time to take about 5 Tylenol PM … make that 10 …
• Fuck … my … ASS this is good, The Beat-Nicks again hittin’ it HELLA-HARD with a soft touch, pitting proto-punk — but clean — riffs against subtly sloppy drums and authoritative man-crooning from the singer, whoever the FUCKK he is!
• If “I See Your Face All Days” isn’t the most generic song I’ve heard on one of these comps in years than I’m not Gumshoe grill-buster;
• If “How Do You Know” by The Boasters isn’t the best Beatles impression I’ve heard since The Dave Clark Five then I’m not Gumshoe goat-fucker;
• If “Little Ruby” ain’t the second-best song about a gal named “Ruby,” then I ain’t Gumshoe WORLD-SMASHER … (there’s also just a flutter of proggy shit at the beginning and end of this cut; maybe that’s why they titled the comp thusly!) 

Is it not obvious? I need to put the laptop down and GET SOME SLEEPY. Goodbye now …

• FUCK IT, there’s one more slice of ’60s goodness I wanna pour over thee: “Helpful Man” by St. James. This cut has some serious depth to it, getting all cutting-edge-psych jam at the end and holding it down with gorgeous, ghostly harmonies in the middle. A fantastic piece of action that seems a little buried at the tail-end of Side B … FUGGIT I’m GONE!