Review: The Rippers' 'Honesty'

One of the delights of exploring classic psych is discovering how bands from around the world grooved around with it. Germany's The Rippers went the garagey root, with simple arrangements built around guitar, bass, drums, and organ and a pleasingly gruff singer who could pass for Zoot Money. You won't find anything as revelatory of Zoot and Dantalian's Chariot's "Madman Running Through the Fields" on The Rippers' one and only LP, but Honesty is still a highly enjoyable product of 1968 that often sounds more like a product of 1966. 

The songs are pretty consistently good and the playing is enjoyably ramshackle, cooking on the more upbeat tracks like "My Plight" and the infectious and hilarious "All the Jumping People". The raga rock-ish "The Night at the Lagoon" is the disc's best candidate for lost classic status.

For those who like their psych rare as a mooing steak, Secret Records Limited' new reissue will be a must-buy. Honesty has not been reissued in any form since its original 1968 release. Don't expect a George Martin production, but the music sounds good, aside from the recurring crackling in the right channel on Side A and similar left-channel business on Side B. The cover sports liner notes in German and English, so bilingual psych freaks will be especially psyched for this one.