HEAD SHOP '69 orig LP insane fuzz psych MINT in shrink

$

89

KILLER and now legendary psychedelic LP from 1969 from the HEAD SHOP on the US Epic label.  Best of all, this one was sealed, played only a handful of times and is still in the shrinkwrap...probably one of the finest examples of this treasure you'll find!  And what a treasure it is - a psychedelic album that revels in excess, even in the world of psychedelia.  This is no timid little "soft pop" teddy bear, no sirree - lock this in a room with Curt Boettcher and I'm afraid Curt comes out five minutes later with both ears bleeding.  And that's not a criticism.  This is psych without restraint, not for the faint of heart, "over the top" only if the top is eight miles high.  If you think Spanky and Our Gang are "groovy kids", then stop reading this now.  The album opens with an overload of wah wah guitar feedback, some rumbling Pink Floyd bass, some trippy back-and-forth stereo panning, and an ear-piercing shriek of raw punk aggression.  This is what's known as "setting the tone".  Then we're off, shoved mercilessly into a shambling Bo Diddley psychedelic rave-up with great big swaths of angry guitar.  The vocals are less sung than exhaled straight into your cerebellum, and the percussion sounds like the noise made by a dozen elephants loose in a tympani factory.  This is followed by the AMAZING "Heaven Here We Come", pure teen punk garage psych BRILLIANCE in 2:40.  Cheeky boys, trying to lull you into a false sense of security with the drifty floaty opening seconds, with barely contained vocals, tense organ and spacey synth FX.  Which, of course, make the ripping bass swoop that much more breathtaking, and the catchy soaring chorus that follows is pure psych greatness.  Dig that roller rink organ and the shouts of "Higher!  Higher!  Higher!"  "Revolution" positively TEEMS with FUZZ, rumbling big hairy woolly mastodon fuzz bass guitar supporting soaring waspy mad hornets nest acid fuzz guitar - in fact, last time I played this the album literally vibrated off the turntable.  "I Feel Love Comin' On" takes us to the Church of the Divine Wah Wah for a Sunday sermon of slow-burning gospelly psych that's tremendously exciting.  The choruses soar heavenward in fits of divine passion, fueled by an intense echoey church organ and rapturous bursts of waspy fuzz guitar.  It's like a sermon from the Reverend Ken Kesey with the Electric Prunes playing their version of Mass in F Minor behind him.  But perhaps the most BIZARRE cut here is the otherworldly "Listen With A Third Ear", guaranteed to either give you nightmares or give you a third ear.  It starts off with these tense horror film violin stabs like a shower scene on acid, keeps the creepy tension going through the first brooding verse, then erupts in a burst of blood-curdling fuzz guitar, pounding drums and downright maniacal vocals - and then it all STOPS.  We're left with nothing but the sound of a human heartbeat, followed by a creepy horror film nursery rhyme theme like something out of the nursery in "It's Alive", more Bates Motel violin, and then the whispered echoey kicker, "Listen with a third earrrrrrrr..."  There's clearly something evil and sinister lurking in the hearts of the Head Shop here, and they know it.  "Night has turned into a kaleidoscope...I've seen my heart replaced by shimmering stars...my insides pulsing in the milky way...seconds have become years!"  Which leads me to believe that either the boys are on one SERIOUS acid trip gone wrong, or, more likely, they've tried the new Cheesy Gordita Crunch at the local Taco Bell.  Man, let me tell you, a couple of those and MY insides are pulsing in the milky way.  And seconds become years too - just ask the person trying to use the bathroom.  Original 1969 STEREO pressing on the Epic label - this is NOT the reissue!  Cover's in NEAR MINT shape - this LP was sealed but opened by me and played probably a half dozen times - there's a small cutout hole and the vinyl plays NEAR MINT too.  Winning bidder pays $3.00 media mail shipping in the US, $6 air mail to Canada, $12 air mail everywhere else.  Paypal, Bidpay, cash, checks and money orders accepted.  Please check out my other auctions for more pop, psych and garage obscurities.