Like Little Steven’s Wicked Cool imprint, New York’s other purveyors of ‘60s-esque modern sounds, Rainbow Quartz, always delivers the goods for those of us who like to sing along with classic-rock ‘n’ pop-inspired current bands. While Stevens’ label tends more towards the grittier garage rock (say 65/66) he keys in on his “Underground Garage” radio show/format, and RQ leans a tad more towards more guitar-pop melodicism in lighter radio pop fare or later-‘60s psych stuff, the whole ‘60s rock explosion is up for superb reinvention. And ask anyone from The Posies to Teenage Fanclub: Spain is the hottest bed of the many Eurasian hotbeds for this stuff, up through a near hysteria for early ‘70s post-Beatles power-pop.
So it doesn’t seem all that strange, after all, that this Barcelona band’s fourth LP still sounds a lot more like they’re an American band out of Los Angeles clubs (complete with American accents in their English singing, devoid of any trace of Spaniard inflection) than anything that might bear their true Castilian markings. In fact, on their bread and butter style such as the opening “I Don’t Care About It,” “The Trip,” and “Velvet Morning in the Sun,” they sound like the ghosts of the mid-‘60s San Francisco answer to the British Invasion, The Beau Brummels (“Laugh Laugh,” “I’ll Cry Just a Little”), with a similar big-chorus payoff after breezy, lightly strummed verses. On these selections, The Gurus come off like their labelmates from today ’s Bay Area, The Parties. But these guys are also branching out a little more on Closing; e.g., they’re also proffering piano-pop tunes like the two somber versions of “Be My Wife” and especially the more patient, dreamy “Strange Believer,” and even a folk tune in “Where.”
Note, “Be My Wife” is not a 1977 Low David Bowie cover; nor is “I Put a Spell on You” the famous 1956 Screaming Jay Hawkins staple; but “Lucifer Sam” proves to indeed be the often-covered 1967 Syd Barrett -era Pink Floyd single classic—and its crisp, more psych-garage sound akin to the Piper at the Gates of Dawn original (and akin to True West ’s and The Three O’Clock ’s Paisley Underground L.A.-era covers in the early ‘80s). This hot cover indeed shows off a harder-edged Gurus that’s fortunately also applied to the aforementioned “I Put a Spell on You” and the zippy, Ramones-lite slap of the standout “Caught By the Rain” and the instrumental “The Tongue-Twister.” I.E., when they get a bit of a burr under their butt, they come off as a most captivating unit—on an LP that simultaneously shows off a more expansive (and needed) stylistic variety. Pair them with Australia’s similarly-bent, much longer running vets the Hoodoo Gurus, and you’d have a heck of a ‘60s-esque double bill beyond moniker similarity. (rainbowquartz.com)
