Customer Reviews

Pussy Plays

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It's amazing they were allowed to use this name back in 68' without much if any controversy. This is a very rare underground British psych album originally released in early 1969 on Morgan Bluetown. An original VG+/NM copy will set you back over $1000 on private lists or at auction. Pussy Plays is decent late 60's British psych/prog rock that now sees it's third official reissue release: UK's Edsel Records, Italy's Akarma (most of their reissues have mediocre sound, although they have excellent "Karmapack" CD packaging that look exactly like mini LP gatefold covers and last you have the Japanese import on Airmail. I have this Edsel import CD and the sound quality is excellent, however upon very close listening it sounds like it was transferred from a near mint vinyl copy. I really like "Come Back June" (with some nice Hammond organ), "The Open Ground" (with spoken lyrics) and "Comets" (drawn out acid rock) which are excellent examples of British psychedelia. There are many good ideas scattered throughout the album, but it's lacking in the songwriting and arranging dept. which makes it not that memorable. There are many other British groups that released much better albums (Tomorrow, Kaleidoscope, Eyes Of Blue, Arzachel, The Gods, Magic Mixture, Skip Bifferty, etc....). This is worth checking out, but not really worth all the hype it's gotten from the book Tapestry of Earthly Delights. It's still a rare album with a risky name and a frisky cat on acid with big bloody claws on the cover.

Well, how many albums do you hear that sport a meowing cat for an introduction? With pixie-like vocals, which puts them in the early Pink Floyd territory, Pussy's modus operandi throughout the album is a heavy, funereal keyboard style laced with freaky guitar solos. But this is by no means a dark and gloomy album. Off-kilter would be a better description. The opener, "Come Back June" sports a surf-like Ventures style rhythm with a punchy guitar break halfway through. "All My Life" and "We Built The Sun" are more spacey, cerebral organ sponged songs. The former borders on drug-induced self pity, while the latter, through the lyrical personification of nature, tries to be somewhere else entirely-in the land of the sun people. Make sure you're sitting down for the interstellar overdrive of "Comets", which is the hands-down centerpiece of the album. You won't believe what's at the epicenter of this freak out either-yes, a raging theramin solo (or at least a keyboard that sounds very convincing)! Returning from that trip leads you to the gentler, earthier "Tragedy In F. Minor", that recalls some of the Pretty Things work on the S.F. Sorrow album; the acoustic guitar is wonderful on this piece. The last song, the instrumental "G.E.A.B." is another heavy standout, this time featuring guitar workout that builds to a fuzzy rave-up climax-and then the cat again.

While there are a couple of just OK tracks on this album, the rest of the tracks are good enough in my opinion to warrant getting this album if you're into late 60s organ-driven rock. While I don't play Pussy every day, it's certainly a CD I enjoy giving a spin every now and then, with the classic 'The Open Ground' almost worth the price of admission alone (although getting the mp3 might be a better deal), and it's no wonder that the compilers of the Real Life Permanent Dream boxed set chose that song as being one of the psych-prog highlights of the era. It sums up so much of the excitement and energy of those times. Get the known psych-prog classics first, but if you've gone through those and are still looking for more new music, then this band should be next on your shopping list. Unfortunately, if this turns you on like it did to me and you're thinking of looking for more Pussy, you should know this is the only good album they released. (Warning: if you want to come back to this product page again, do NOT search the band's name under 'All Departments'!)

Originally released in 1969, as this was the British psychedelic band's only album. I know I vaguely remember hearing about this obscure ensemble, as I believe I recognized the CD cover. Tunes I liked best include the catchy "Come Back June", "We Built The Sun", "Tragedy In F Minor", the should-have-been a hit "G.E.A.B." and the stellar "The Open Ground". Should definitely appeal to fans of Tomorrow, Pink Fairies, the Deviants and Skip Bifferty. Heard about how much $$ a copy of the original vinyl lp can maybe pull in for this title. A should have.

this is a decent album but not quite what i expected. this is a good example of a group that straddles the line between psych and prog. there are 3 instrumentals on the album, one of which (comets)is kinda tiresome after a while. the best songs are all of my life and come back june, a pair of psych/progressive rock minor masterpieces. the album doesn't really remind me of anyone off the top of my head, i guess you could say that the band were fairly unique in some ways, and it is rather diverse. a good disc overall, but i wish that the band had more tunes with words. instrumentals are fine, but i generally don't like albums with more than one or two. pussy plays is good enough that it would have been nice to see another album by this lot.