v/a- BROWN ACID: THE FIRST TRIP CD

Almost every volume in stock on vinyl.

Legendary compilations like Nuggets, Pebbles, ad nauseum, have exhausted the mines of early garage rock and proto-punk, keeping alive a large cross-section of underground ephemera. However, few have delved into and expertly archived the wealth of proto-metal, pre-stoner rock tracks of Brown Acid: The First Trip.

Raw Meat, one of the stomping standouts from the compilation, is a band about which precious little is known even by the owner of the label and producer of the band’s original 1969 single, Richard Paul Thomas — two of its tracks reissued as a 7” teaser single for the compilation on July 14th, 2015 via RidingEasy Records. The trio was from north of Milwaukee, WI, but not much more information remains available.

Brown Acid: The First Trip opens with the slithering buzzsaw guitars and hard-rock howl of Zeke’s’ “Box”, a monster that gives Blue Cheer a run for their leaden blues. Snow sways into “Sunflower” with a touch of Steppenwolf’s swagger and wind-in-their-hair wildness. Elsewhere, Zebra proves they were “Wasted” with a soul-inflected groove, while Bob Goodsite leans in on his wah-wah and phaser pedals, determined to out-Hendrix Jimi himself on “Faze.” Raw Meat’s “Stand By Girl” serves up a fierce, stomping riff intercut with Iron Butterfly style operatics. Bacchus kicks out a hostile sounding boogie, demanding to “Carry My Load.” Josefus caps it all off nicely with a hooky power-pop meets Bob Seger System meets Lollipop Shoppe anthem with the undeniably catchy chorus, “hard luck — keep truckin’!”

It’s a solid set of unknown hits you can’t believe failed to connect back in their heyday due to various unfortunate circumstances. But now Brown Acid: The First Trip gives these long-lost gems their well deserved moment to shine.