They couldn’t claim a string of international hits, but The
Seeds were LA garage rock royalty, and sitting on the throne was yowling,
howling spaceman Sky Saxon. He and his horde—rippling electric pianist Daryl
Hooper, fuzz-faced guitarist Jan Savage, and slamming drummer Rick
Andridge—spun out two-chord songs simple as nursery rhymes and monstrous as
Grimms’ fairy tales. Their eponymous debut is a work of pure excitement, and
though they’ve been accused of recording the same song over-and-over, there’s
enough blood running through The Seeds
to make it a killer record in the Ramones-vein.
In fact, tracks such as the single-minded “Pushin’ Too Hard”, the mesmeric
noise “Evil Hoodoo”, and the chanting “No Escape” are as punk as anything The
Ramones and their brethren did a decade later. The debut single “Can’t Seem to
Make You Mine” contrasts the prevailing speed and stomp with a dreamy pace, but
it also has Saxon’s most intense vocal as he erupts into anguished primal
screams. I wonder if John Lennon was listening.
The Seeds’ second album further deflates accusations of
monotony as it moves the band’s signature songwriting style into less crazed,
more varied and psychedelic vistas. Consequently, A Web of Sound is not as visceral as The Seeds, but it burns with explicit references to sex and drugs
and memorable tracks such as “Mr. Farmer”, the Kinky “Tripmaker”, the rainy “A
Faded Picture”, and the horny epic “Up in Her Room”.
GNP Crescendo records issued The Seeds in 2012 and A Web
of Sound the following year as deluxe editions with all sonic planes
distinguished brilliantly. Just listen to how much the rhythm section booms on
“Evil Hoodoo” and how effectively the highs of Saxon’s wails and harmonica cut
through that din. Both discs were also loaded with bonus tracks, The Seeds containing an assortment of
outtakes and alternate takes, such as a funny Little Richard pastiche called
“Daisy Mae” on which Saxon sounds a bit like Tiny Tim and “Evil Hoodoo” in an
extended version even longer than “Up in Her Room”.
A Web of Sound
offered even more with both the album’s stereo and mono mixes (guess which
one’s better), a selection of boss alternates and outtakes (led by the baroque
and rather demonic early version of “The Wind Bows Her Hair”), and A Full Spoon of Seedy Blues in its
entirety and in its previously unissued mono mix. The album is better than its
reputation because The Seeds play as well as ever and their style translates
nicely to pure blues, but the material certainly isn’t very memorable and it
does feel like a step backward, like if the Stones had followed Aftermath with The Rolling Stones. Sky does too much grumbling and mumbling,
rarely getting into the manic zone that made him worshipable. While A Full Spoon might not be worth the
admission price on its own, it is a very nice bonus to include on an album as
good as A Web of Sound. The liner
notes on both discs— oral histories with all surviving Seeds (Saxon died in 2009) —are also outstanding. Next month,
Crescendo is apparently reissuing its deluxe edition of The Seeds in the UK
next month, but they can both be purchased now.
