I don’t quite recall how I came across this album initially, likely in the middle of the night while I was on an adding spree. I’m pretty excited to give this one a listen, as Fifty Foot Hose were one of the first bands to really bring about experimental rock. The band was a psychedelic rock band from the San Francisco area in the later 1960s, and stayed together until 1969 when members of the band joined in the musical Hair. Their one and only studio album seems to be a mix of jazz rock and psychedelic rock with electronic effects from what it says on their Wikipedia page. I’m pretty stoked to check this one out, so with that said I’m going to jump into the music.
“And After” starts super quietly with only a strange recurring sputtering that seems to slowly speed up and become more of the focus of the soundscape. This is peculiar, though I’m really digging it so far. Oh wow, now there’s like a slow bubbling up of some sort of rumbling noise. It’s almost like they put a microphone into a pot of boiling water and played some super deep bass along with it. The feedback at the end is really sweet.
Oh wow, “If Not This Time” starts out in with some super strange jazz-like chord progressions that seem to go all over the place. This is sweet. The vocals are somewhat scattered about while echoing each other in some sort of harmonic dissonance. Oh wow, this guitar work has somewhat found a melody or structure that I can vaguely pick up and somewhat grounds the song. This tune definitely gets far out. There’s some really sweet chirping of synths or something of the sort that move about the soundscape – really sweet. Holy smokes, when the vocals come together there’s such a sweet musical resolution for a fleeting moment that keeps me all the more intrigued in the song. Really interesting tune.
“Opus 777” starts out in a somewhat droningly harmonic fashion and ends just as quickly.
“The Things That Concern You” starts out really quickly with a really tasty vocal line mixed with some far out electronic bubbling. It’s something like the noises of outer space are meeting the noises of the deepest parts of the oceans. Holy smokes, this gets super tasty with the guitar work as the synths drive the tune super far out. I’m reminded a bit of other experimental bands from the era like Gong and bands from the future like Peter Kember’s Spectrum or even Spacemen 3 to some degree. Really sweet tune.
“Opus 11” quickly washes your mind with some bubbling synths for a short moment as the song exits as quickly as it started.
Holy smokes, “Red the Sign Post” is super interesting. The electric guitar is super fuzzed out and almost has this sort of dark heavy metal nature to it that gently melds into a sort of acid rock vibe. Oh wow, the second electric guitar provides a somewhat clean, though still distorted contrast with some really pleasant melodic playing. The female vocalist really goes in really awesomely and gets almost guttural at times. Super groovy. Oh wow, this tune has so many movements to it – the next direction is entirely unpredictable and I absolutely dig it.
“For Paula” has a super gentle sound from an organ or keyboard synth at first that almost goes screeching like a UFO through the night sky for a moment.
“Rose” oh wow, this is super tasty. This is almost like a sort of psychedelic jazz tune with those tastily distorted jazz chords from the electric guitar and the sort of psychedelic swing in the drums while some sort of synth explores the outer reaches of the soundscape. The bass guitar is super tasty – it’s definitely got a little bit of jazz style to it while bridging the psychedelic elements of the groove together. Oh wow, the vocalist is whispering, and I’m really digging it. Oh wow, this jazz-inflected experimental psychedelic groove is absolutely awesome. Oh wow, when the jam resolves back to the main melody everything is extraordinarily tasty. The tune ramps up for a super nice crescendo just before the mellows out at the end. Great tune.
“Fantasy” starts out super interestingly by creating this massive sounding space that is something like the Twilight Zone meets psychedelic music. I have no idea where the song is going next and I absolutely dig it. There’s this ominous psychedelic march from the rhythm section that eventually breaks on through to something super tasty – holy smokes, this is sweet. It almost morphs into a more ‘traditional’ psychedelic rock tune, with some churning rhythm guitar, some steady groovin’ bass, some great drums that set up the song on a great platform for the lead electric guitar to really go in and howl out some super tasty psychedelic licks. Wow, this tune has a few different movements up to this point. Everything but an electric guitar fades away as some epic sounding chords are strewn together as this journey continues. The bass seems to land into place alongside the drums as this super tasty, churning jam has sort of found its way into the tune. The first vocals in the tune have entered into this epic tune with the female vocalist some super sweet vocal lines. Oh wow, the tune has moved back to the first experimental progression, complete with the synths exploring the depths of the soundscape and a vocal jam by the vocalist accompanying it, nearly jamming alongside the synth. Oh wow – the tune seems to move over to a punchy, nearly cutting lone guitar for a moment, before the tune seems to come together and take some sort of new form with all the progressions from earlier in the tune melding together in a super far out way. Really awesome tune.
“God Bless the Child” starts out in an a super interesting way, taking the form of more of an airy jazz-club tune than an experimental or psychedelic, though there are definite elements of those from the synth and the delicate sliding of the acoustic guitar at times alongside the little accentuations from the electric guitar. Oh wow, the acoustic guitar has such a tasty sound to it. There’s almost a desperado type of sound in this one to some degree for a moment. I really dig those jazz sounding chords used by the acoustic guitar. Really tasty tune.
“Cauldron” feels like the band might be wrapping things up with one final super far out experimental jam. The vocals almost sound like they’re spoken through a fan while something of a gong or bell continues to ring throughout the background. Oh wow, those reversed drums are super interesting with the ascending bass line. There’s the sound of shrieks or something in the background that meld together with the synth. This tune is definitely super far out, and very clearly is experimental in nature. I really dig the way the vocals seem to fill up the sides of the soundscape in a super strange though somewhat poetic manner. The effects of this one are super interesting. This is an absolutely strange tune and it’s incredibly interesting to listen to, and it’s a great end for this album.
Wow, this album is quite the listening experience. There’s a really interesting blend of psychedelic rock and jazz with a super heavy experimental sound prevalent through much of the album. If you dig experimental rock like the stylings of Peter Kember and Spectrum, or are into psychedelic rock and are looking for a far out, spacey experience like Gong, this might be one you want to consider checking out. If you do decide to give this one a listen, I sincerely hope that you enjoy the listening experience at least as much as I did.
-A