Neon Pearl - 1967 Recordings

Pierwszy zespół Petera Duntona grającego później w świetnych grupach Bulldog Breed, Please czy wreszcie T2. Nie znajdziemy tu progresywnego rocka, zamiast tego otrzymujemy dużą dawkę wciągającej brytyjskiej psychodelii, która pogrąża nas w sennych i marzycielskich przestrzeniach. Łagodny śpiew wokalisty, umiejętne wyczucie instrumentów,  prosta lecz nie banalna aranżacja utworów sprawiają, że muzyka jest gładko przyswajalna i natychmiast rozpoznawalna.

The Neon Pearl trio consisted of Peter Dunton (vocals/guitar/keyboards/drums), Bernard Jinks (bass/backing vocals), and Nick Spenser (guitar/harmonium/keyboards). In 1967 they recorded the material issued on 1967 Recordings, which is fair if somber period British psychedelia in its hazy riffs, mild guitar distortions, and vocal harmonies, though the songs aren't too imaginative or varied. Dunton was also in the marginally less obscure British psychedelic bands the Flies and Please, while Jinks would later play in Bulldog Breed and T2, the latter of which also included Dunton.

This collection of obscure British psychedelia has a pleasantly foggy, ethereal feel. There are steadily jangling guitars, accomplished subdued distortion and effects, pulsating riffs, dreamy lyrics ("Dream Scream" is one title), and attractive vocal harmonies, with occasional harmonium tossing in an unusual spice. It fits the cliché of being suitable background music for launching into a meditative doze, or for an altered state of consciousness using specific substances. There's also a serious-mindedness to the mood that, while sincere, would probably never be adapted by a post-20th century band unless it was done with a certain amount of irony totally missing here. What's to complain about? Not much, but the songs themselves are on the monotonous and undeveloped side, sounding more like grooves to work off of than fully realized compositions. The tracks could be viewed as vague forerunners of a more modern form of Terrastock-era psychedelic-influenced ambient and trance rock. But the absence of better songs confines this to the realm of specialists, and excludes it from the upper reaches of the better obscure late-'60s British psychedelic music that might be considered for exploration by collectors. (AMG)

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