The Fire Escape was a psychedelic rock band from San Francisco that formed in 1967 and made one single studio album. The group was mostly session musicians, and was sort of spearheaded to some degree by producers Kim Fowley and Michael Lloyd. In his career, Fowley worked with groups like the Runaways and Kiss, and Lloyd had been involved with bands like the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band and St. John Green. The album consists mostly of covers, though there are a couple of originals in the album. I’m pretty excited to give this one a listen, so with that said I’m going to jump on into the music.
“Psychotic Reaction” is the cover from the Count Five a couple years earlier, and it starts out with a bunch of high energy and great bluesy garage rock flavor. I really dig this – there’s a really nice smooth and relaxed approach from the vocals that brings a type of polish to the soundscape. Oh wow, this tune really picks up with the chaos with some high speed drums and bass and the guitars going every which way they can before dropping back into place. I really dig the flavor of the harmonica in this cover. The production quality is super clean too. Oh wow, this little outro jam is pretty sweet. Great tune.
“Talk Talk” is another cover tune from on this album from the Music Machine. Oh wow, I really dig this sort of proto-punk garage rock energy from this one. The guitars and bass sort of continually chop forward with the drums in a relatively garage punk manner, while the vocals sort of bring more of garage rock approach. Really sweet tune.
“Love Special Delivery” is a cover tune from Thee Midniters, and the bass line that starts out the tune has a super sweet groove to it. There’s a whole bunch of garage rock energy to this one, with the raw guitars sort of playing off one another with some super sweet distortion that brings out the energy in the song really well. Oh wow, this instrumental break is super groovy, and nearly takes on some sort of garage surf rock qualities. Really sweet tune.
“The Trip” starts out with some really groovy organs and piano with some sweet rockin’ electric guitars that sort of make this soundscape sound somewhat like a garage rock rendition of The Doors’ “Light My Fire”. Oh wow, the energy is super high in this one, and only continues to build until the instruments gently fade out at the end. Groovy track.
“96 Tears” is cover tune originally by the Mysterians, and it has some really sweet psychedelic garage rock flavor with the raw sound from the guitars and the sort of gently rollicking organs in the background. The drums and bass keep the tune grooving super tight and steady, while the other instruments take the tune further out. Oh wow, this tune has evolved a bunch with some super great flavor – I really dig it. Really sweet tune.
“Blood Beat” is one of two originals on the album, and it starts out with a low, pulsating kick drum on one side while other instruments start to weave their way into the soundscape in a pretty experimentally psychedelic fashion. Oh wow, there are a lot of sounds from things that don’t seem to be instruments, really letting this tune venture pretty far out as it relies upon that steady heartbeat-like kick drum. Super interesting tune.
“Trip Maker” starts out with some raw garage rock energy that gradually weaves through a psychedelic soundscape as the instrumentation from the beginning remains relatively steady and other instruments are brought into this foray of sounds. Oh wow, the electric organ really plays some tasty notes during its quick little solo. I really dig the evolving percussion in the track, bringing a lot of different psychedelic sounds through the evolving style over the track. Great little tune.
“Journey’s End” is the other original tune on this album, and it almost sounds like a sort of psychedelic garage rock ballad of sorts as the band seems to have a super tasty groove in this one. Oh wow, the instrumentation in this one all feels like it sort of bounces and plays off each other, while moving the tune forward in one cogent piece. Oh wow, there seems to be some orchestral strings in the background near the end. Great tune.
“Pictures and Designs” is the second tune originally by the Seeds on this album, with a whole bunch of groovy raw psychedelic garage rock energy that sort of reminds me a bit of The Other Half, venturing towards proto-punk rock at times while retaining that psychedelia prevalent in the tune. Oh wow, that little guitar solo was awesome, and had a whole bunch of great flavor to its nearly bluesy psychedelic playing. Oh wow, the ending is super chaotic, and sounds awesome. Super sweet track.
“Fortune Teller” sounds like a really groovy psychedelic garage rock tune that sounds like a super sweet, fun jam piece for the band to sort of wrap up this album. I really dig the back and forth between the organs and guitars in this one while the drums and bass keep the tune propelling forward. Really sweet tune.
Oh wow, this album had a whole bunch of great flavors packed in, with some really nice production work and super sweet playing reminiscent of the time period. The original tracks on this album showed some promise, but unfortunately the group never recorded or at the very least released any other work. If you enjoy psychedelic garage rock from the 60s, this is an album you might 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