It's been a long, long road, but '60s psychedelic stalwarts The Electric Prunes are back yet again with this latest release WaS. Comprised of 13 new songs along with a few live cuts, WaS is hinted at perhaps being the final release from the Los Angeles legends, who had some minor success in the late 1960s before disbanding for 30 years. Reuniting in 1999, the band has been fairly active since then, WaS being their fourth release in that time span. Here the band is comprised of James Lowe (vocals, guitar, theramin), Mark Tulin (vocals, bass, guitar, keyboards), Steve Kara (lead guitar), Jay Dean (guitar), Ken Eros (acoustic guitar, Mellotron), Walter Garces (drums), Joe Dooley (drums), and Bubu Bop (drums),
There are some spirited songs here that bring back memories of their 'psychedelic garage rock' days, such as "Frozen Winter", "Like Getting High", and "Between the Cracks", each one filled with fuzzy guitar twanging, trippy atmospherics, and psych tinged vocals. "Oh My My" especially seems lifted out of some 1968 recording session (kudos for them getting that vintage sound here in 2014!) and "Don't Sneeze on Me" also hones in on that garage rock/early punk sound that was just starting to make waves around 1969 or 1970 with the MC5, The Stooges, and yes, The Electric Prunes. The swirling keys and ragged guitar explorations of "Circles" will make you want to dust off your lava lamp, and a new version of "Smokestack Lightning" does the trick quite nicely. However, with 15 songs, there's a lot of material here, and some tunes kind of fall into the bland 'bluesy/psych' trap that borders on the generic. In addition, vocally the band have seen better days, but their instrumental chops are still up to par. Overall, WaS is a decent album of psychedelic garage rock from a band who helped put this style on the map. If it's their last stand, they can go out feeling quite proud of themselves.
Track Listing
1. Smokestack Lightning 4:50
2. Tokyo 4:59
3. Beauty Queen 3:52
4. Like Getting High 3:56
5. The Girl Who Crashed My Dream 3:49
6. Frozen Winter 4:41
7. Circles 4:19
8. Between the Cracks 4:03
9. Blue Sky / Red Dress 3:45
10. Love Fade Away 4:21
11. Bullet Thru the Backseat 5:15
12. Adoration Stuck 3:48
13. Hollywood Hype 3:43
14. Don't Sneeze On Me 4:38
15. Oh My My 3:15
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