Music From Merkin Manor
is a strangely interesting album, as might be expected from a group of
young longhairs playing a combination of psychedelic, country, and hard
rock in smalltown Utah in the early 1970s. The album opens up with
"Ruby," a song on which Merkin sound something like the Association on acid singing harmonies that sound slightly off-kilter while being backed by Blue Öyster Cult.
Odd, to say the least. There are many recognizable influences on the
album, but many of the influences wouldn't seem as if they should be
within miles of each other. As a result, a song such as "Take Some Time"
has the druggy ambience of early-'70s stoner rock moving into pop
verses, before it somehow evolves into a jazz jam. "Todaze" again sounds
not unlike the Association
(a comparison that consistently holds throughout the album) in terms of
the vocals, but only if that pop act was backed by a groovy hard rock
band fronted by Carlos Santana
that was capable of shifting rhythms at the drop of a dime. "Sweet
Country," just as the title implies, tries on country-rock without
batting an eye, and many of the songs graft similarly across-the-board
influences together, and somehow generally do so in a tidy pop song
framework of three to four minutes. It is terribly intriguing to listen
to at least once, but unfortunately, the influences simply do not jibe
well enough most of the time to sustain any sense of enjoyment or
appreciation for the music. The album showed promise, but was far too
haphazard to make much of an impression. Rocky Baum showed a nice flair for quirky songwriting, and when it worked, it worked well, but sonically Music From Merkin Manor is only half-baked.---Stanton Swihart
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