I’ve listened to The Tangerine Zoo on a few occasions, but haven’t yet listened to an album of theirs all the way through. This particular album was on my suggestions section of my Apple Music account, so I figured I might as well check it out. Both of the records the band released were released by Mainstream Records, a label that many bands I’ve listened to lately have been on. I didn’t realize until looking at their wikipedia page that The Tangerine Zoo was a part of that “Bosstown sound” movement I found out about when I checked out The Freeborne. Though the band was only active from 1966 until 1970, they did have reunion shows on rare occasions in the late 80s and early 90s. I’m pretty stoked to give this one a listen, so I’m going to jump on into the music.
“Birth” has a very gentle start to things as the band sort of feels things into place from a distance, gradually getting closer and more intense as the song continues on. Oh wow, as the melody takes form the song sounds super cool. The music takes the form of huge waves of psychedelia that prepare the listener for something of a voyage to come.
“Like People” has a super different feel from the last song, with more of a psychedelic pop feel to it. That bass sort of strings things along from the background as the drums pulsate the song forward. The vocals really give the song a nice air to it. Oh wow, there’s a neat little psychedelic waltz sounding part in this song. Oh wow, this breakdown at the end of the song is super neat. The organs prop things up, and the guitar has this super interesting fuzz that almost makes it sound like a horn. Definitely a neat song.
Oh wow, “Wake Up Sun” has an epic feel to the guitar part in the intro, which feels like it’s really churching things together as the bass strings things together behind it in a different musical layer. On the other side of the soundscape there’s some super awesome swirling that serves as a nice counterpoint to the bass while accomplishing the same task. Oh wow, the primal sounding bass drum combined with that playful swirling organ sounds super awesome together. Holy smokes, that guitar is begging to be let loose and is just toying with me at the moment. There’s a huge tension built up that’s finally somewhat released as the vocals come back on again and everything sort of falls together. Oh wow, there are some real underwater vibes for the end of the song – pretty sweet.
“Another Morning” has some super interesting guitar effects to it at the beginning, or perhaps it’s the keyboard. It sounded like a strange sounding harpsichord, but evolved to something of a swirling organ that really lays into the track. Wow, the shifting tempos in this song sounds super sweet, and really keeps me on the edge of my seat. When that organ slams back in though it sounds absolutely awesome. I really dig the playing in this one, it sounds super intricate and nearly ahead of what the rest of the band is playing, and the drums seem to be trying to keep up with it. Really sweet song.
“Confusion” has a sort of shamanic psychedelic feel to it. This one sort of reminds me of St. John Green a bit, with the drums and organs creating a super psychedelic atmosphere driven by the vocals and where the bass guitar and the electric guitar really get into the tune with some absolutely lovely playing. The middle of this one at the moment is absolutely serene, and the organs are creating a sort of crystalline atmosphere where the bass gently moves around with the drums. Oh wow, that guitar solo gets super discordant – almost like it’s a half step off from the rest of the band at any point – and it sounds like it’s taking the rest of the band’s playing pretty far out. Oh wow, this little keyboard part is absolutely dreamy and slowly morphs back into an electric organ that slams down some sweet lines. Oh wow, that’s a really sweet song.
“You I Love” has a pretty dark feel to it at the beginning, almost like something is slightly off with the playing – yet nothing feels out of place. The band sort of keeps the momentum from that shamanic headspace from the previous track and adds to it with this one. Oh wow, I really dig this one. The way everything seems to magically fall back together as the band gets back to the chorus is really sweet. Oh wow, the outro has a super cool psychedelic waltz feel to it.
Ooh, “Farther Down The Road” has something of a psychedelic funk groove to it that’s really manifested really well by that groovy bass and that swirling organ. Oh wow, the song changes to something of a delicate psychedelic folk tune for a moment, but is pulled back into things by the bass line. I really dig those short, staccato’d chops from the guitar – bringing a lot of structure by doing so little. I really dig the outro to this song, everything is really grooving full speed after revisiting that folksy part again, and the organs really jam out on the way out of this song.
Oh wow, “Can’t You See” has like some sort of slow moving psychedelic folksy ballad feel to it, which sort of brings things a bit introspective, I think, with the style of instrumentation to it. The vocals slowly drift to the left side of the soundscape, while the harpsichord sounding keys and organ keep things going with the drums and guitar on the right side. The bass line in the left with the vocals feels like some sort of guiding light through this slow jam-piece. Wow, when the normal piano comes in it sort of cuts through the mix in a super beautifully unexpected way. Things feel like they’re slowly turning around in the soundscape – and the song ends in a relatively experimental way.
Oh wow, “Young Dream” has a super epic feel to it right away – it’s sort of slow moving, and you can definitely tell it’s building to some big conclusion. The organ really brings a dream-like element to introduce the vocals that sound like they’re sort of singing in a vast empty hall. The gospel chorus background vocals only add to this effect, bringing a certain other-worldliness to the song. The drums sound like a river rolling off of large rocks while continually flowing – and has a very primal feel to them with the low kick drums and the large reverberation. Oh wow, things get even more primal sounding, and feel like this was the same or a similar sequence played in the opening track of the album. The keyboard almost sounds like a pan flute played delicately in the wilderness, while harmonizing with the nature energy of the drums. The bass guitar is super low and quite simple, serving as somewhat of a reliable rock or raft amid the flow of this musical landscape. The electric. guitar really expands on what the keyboards/organs were playing quite well in this exploratory jam/solo, which is accompanied by the organs after a certain point, at which point both instruments keep bringing the other further out. Oh wow, things are settling down a bit now and the song is falling back into some semblance of a melodic structure – pretty awesome. The organs are absolutely wailing while the guitar and bass sort of sync up. Wow, the vocals come back on and the song feels tied up. The organs and guitar get get some final licks in, and the song and album both come to a conclusion. Pretty epic track.
Wow, this is definitely a groovy album, and I can see why The Tangerine Dream have become somewhat of a classic from that Bosstown sound era. If you’re looking for some more Bosstown sound, or want to hear some really cool psychedelic rock, then you might want to consider checking this album out. If you do decide to give this one a listen, I do sincerely hope that you enjoy it at least as much as I did.
-A