Brown Acid the Twenty-First Trip
Here we are again in 2025, Brown Acid The Twenty-First Trip arriving right on
time as the world at large degrades further into disorienting self-absorbed isolation and
chaos. Ten powerful early hard rock brain benders, primal energy exploding sideways
out of the ash heap of ‘60s idealism, rocking the darker side of human nature in style!
Raw and unfiltered, no compromise, blasting gnarly sound perfectly sequenced to take
you on one helluva ride! Territory populated with dicey characters, perilous women,
predators, bad relationships… anti-social alienation delivered with smoking guitars, real
people ripping it with no self-defeating namby-pamby finesse sabotaging their brutal
energy. Every track sounds fresh today because Brown Acid is the real deal when it
comes to what matters in music… communication! Life itself sonically sneering across
time!
SIDE ONE:
OPUS EST – “Maggie Johnsons” kicks it right out of the gate, taking only a minute and a
half to do you in with brash proto punk attitude. Tight and savage riffing shifts gears with
an ascending backup vocal hook right out of the twilight zone. The singer sounds
disoriented, he can’t get away from Maggie quick enough! Power trio from Belgium in
1974 nail it to the wall and then the whole building collapses.
FREEDOM NORTH – “Losing You” seamlessly alternates gutsy female vocal ranting
with trippy floating guitar passages. Singer Franki Hart sounded psychedelic dreamy on
ESSAY TITLE 1their debut 45 “Doctor Tom”, here she sounds like her throat is gonna fly right into your
face. Gnarly lead, harsh dry metallic guitar sound, score one for the ladies here, the
dude’s a loser and she dumps him. Canadian band from 1970 cranked out four singles
and an LP that year… this is their killer.
ACCENTS – “Friendly Stranger” serves as an ominous warning for the girls. That seemingly
charming guy you just met may be more Ted Bundy than Romeo… do not get in his car!
Gushy organ, dark buried fuzz guitar, terrific post-psych catchy vocal arrangement. The
band formed in Rhode Island in 1966 and cut this dark killer in 1969 in L.A. issued on
the Gazzari label, associated with the legendary rock venue.
BROTHER LOVE – “Rock N Roll Band” takes the popular theme of being on the road to
a new prequel type zone, the guy is headed to New Orleans to start up a band. Great
details about wieners and beans, limousines and Cajun Queens, terrific fuzz riff groove
like a sideways blend of “Satisfaction” with “Jumping Jack Flash”… best move is the
innovatively crude way the lead guitar works a Chuck Berry approach into new territory.
Trio led by the Pettito brothers out of Cleveland circa 1970. Perfectly placed break from
the darkness on the previous tracks.
RIVER STYX – “Bike Writer” out of Beverly, New Jersey in 1971 gets right back to
woman trouble with lyrics as mysteriously inscrutable as the bizarre song title. Non-stop
acidic fuzz guitar action all thru, weaving around but coming in for nasty little bites at
just the right time. Vocalist rants with hallucinatory twisted Sky Saxon level intensity,
searing distorted guitar burning it up on the extended fade-out.
SIDE TWO:
MAXX – “200 Years” was originally issued out of Lansing, Michigan on the local Signal
label and picked up for national release as a promo-only by Mainstream Records. The
theme is the original USA ideal of ‘land of the free’ becoming utterly doomed by greed
and corruption. Menacing light-touch Stooges style rhythmic groove with watery wah-
wah action on the intro into dirty bad trip sheets of psychedelic fuzz guitar, this dark
beast functions as a bleak epitaph for civil society, as pertinent now as in 1969!
PUMP – “Kinda Like” is kinda like outrageous with it’s combination of askew vocal
swagger over a churning groove veering into a ridiculously cool chorus about a young
girl hanging out with an old man because he makes her feel safe like an old umbrella.
Wait until his hand comes into the picture and try not to crack up! Fab primitive guitar
lead rides you out and any song with the phrase ‘Nagasaki perfume’ in it is speaking my
language! Left-field 1970 winner out of Newark, Delaware on the Dwikey label.
29.9 –“You Got Me Floating” takes the Hendrix song deep into the garage. Way loose vocal,
serendipitously crude guitar add to the vibe in a way no virtuoso could top. Led by the
Harrison brothers John and Doug out of Pittsburgh but recorded in late 1969 at a band
communal party house in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts. John later scored films fr
George Romero, and used 29.9 track in his own horror classic “Effects”.
WAKEFIELD – “Here I Am” is a mini-epic with rudimentary progressive rock moves
Sioux Falls, South Dakota style from 1979. Opens with a slinky start and stop stalking
groove, vocal has the singer up on the stage but feels like a cage, the crowd isn’t really
getting where he’s coming from. Extended break goes into double time with flying guitar
leads and shifts gears into to a dreamy vibe with synth mimicking airy mellotron skies
saying “you’ll find an answer someday”. Fat chance, you’re in Brown Acid Land!
PEACEPIPE – “Lazy River Blues” completes Trip 21 in deep psychedelic blues territory
with lurking danger in the sinister chord changes, eerie effect dosed vocals, mournful
acid guitar leads… makes you feel like you’re getting cornered by something scary you
can’t see. Obscure heavy trio led by John Uzonyi from L.A. circa 1969, originally issued
on the custom Accent label. The creepy vibe sticks with you like a phantasmic
nightmare!
