When MTV hit in the early eighties, and all you needed was a
single digit to finger a Casio-keyboard and an industrial-sized can of Aquanet
to become a superstar, a small sect of L.A. bands rejected the latest styles to
worship at the pointy boots of The Beatles, The Byrds, and Syd Barrett. Michael
Quercio gave this movement a name: the Paisely Underground. His band, The Three
O’Clock, helped define the sound with other groups such as The Rain Parade, The
Dream Syndicate, and the most successful one of the lot, The Bangles.
What set these bands apart from the pseudo-psychedelics of groups
such as The Dukes of Stratosphear (aka: XTC in disguise) and Naz Nomad and the
Nightmares (aka: The Damned in disguise) is that they didn’t strive for utter authenticity.
Their embracing of synthesizers and up-to-the-minute production values resulted
in a sound that can be instantly placed in the eighties even as it pays reverent
tribute to the sixties. That totally groovy sound is represented among the tracks
familiar and otherwise on The Hidden
World Revealed, Omnivore Recordings’ new Three O’Clock anthology.
Newbies will get turned on by infectious bubblegum classics
such as “With a Cantaloupe Girlfriend,” “Jet Fighter,” and “All in Good Time,”
with its tinkling, early-Rick Wright-style piano fills. The faithful will dig
into the oddities, such as a B-side version of the Latin hymn “Regina Cæli” that begins like a meditative Pet Sounds homage before exploding into
a Hurdy Gurdy Man wall of sound. A
demo of “Jennifer Only,” cut when The Three O’Clock were still called The
Salvation Army, sounds like a bit of raging pre-punk noise piped in from
Liverpool’s Cavern Club circa 1962. Despite some overtly eighties-synthesizer
arches, “A Day in Erotica,” presented in an alternate version, is the purest
psychedelia in the collection, with its warped mid-section sound collage. As a
starting point into the strange world of The Three O’Clock—where everything
always sounds slightly sped-up and romantic partnerships with fresh fruit are
not out of the question— The Hidden World
Revealed does a fine job. The demos, alternate versions, and rare single
sides make it valuable to those who’ve already ventured down into the Paisley
Underground.
