Feeling some inspiration from the current election night in the United States, I figured I should finally give a listen to The United States of America, a short-lived, though reportedly hugely influential experimental and psychedelic rock band from Los Angeles. The band formed in 1967, and broke up in 1968 shortly after their only album was released due to disagreements on the directions for the band. Their album was received fairly well, though didn’t necessarily peak in the charts (it did make it to #181 on the Billboard 200, however). The album is regarded as an early influence for the use of electronic devices in rock music, according to Wikipedia, at least. Something is interesting to me is that the band had no guitar player, and instead used a slew of other instruments and effects. The other night I found during my preliminary research that the band The Plastic Cloud was influenced by The United States of America, so that makes me even more interested than I already am to give this one a listen. With that said, I’m going to jump on into the music.
“The American Metaphysical Circus” starts out with some whimsical organs and instrumentation that feel right at home with the circus. Oh wow, I really dig this so far – there are gentle progressions of chaotic orchestrations that move and scatter about the soundscape. Oh wow, now there’s a more some vocals and bass that comes into the soundscape as the chaotic carnivalesque instrumentations fall out of the soundscape. Oh wow, this is super sweet – the use of the different keyboards and other effects is incredibly interesting. The vocals even have some distortion at times, giving a whole bunch of texture to the super sweet sound of the vocalist’s voice. The drums and bass keep this song progressing forward and somewhat grounded in some semblance of reality while the keyboards, synths, and other effects continually take the track further out into space. Even the drums begin to be lifted to space-like altitudes near the end. Absolutely awesome track, I’m super stoked for the rest of the album.
“Hard Coming Love” starts out super interesting and absolutely rockin’ between the strong backbeat and the bopping bass line, which sets a sturdy backdrop for the effects-laden distorted keyboard and organs that take the track pretty far out there almost immediately. Oh wow, the tune has a really interesting sort of swirl to it with the different approach to the instrumentation. Holy smokes, these keyboards and synths are absolutely awesome. This sort of reminds me a little bit of the Gong album I listened to a while back, though this one seems to incorporate more elements of psychedelic rock from the era, if I’m remembering correctly. Oh wow, the different synths and keyboards create a sort of space-tornado for a moment. I’m hooked. Great track.
“Cloud Song” starts out with an almost baroque sounding exploration of space, with some super bright, high and plucky notes that sound like they’re from a mandolin or something of the sort. Oh wow, this song is absolutely mesmerizing – the band seems to lift you through the cloudy instrumentation of the lifting violin combined with the soft and plucky sounding mandolin (though no mandolin is listed in the instruments played on Wikipedia – it’s possibly a keyboard of some sort), with the sort of gentle, sparse meandering drums and bass throughout the track, and the delicate breeze sound that remains as the other instruments fade out at the end. Great tune.
“The Garden of Earthly Delights” starts out in an almost experimental raga sort of fashion between the synths and introductory melody from the different keyboards. Oh wow, the synths sound as though they send you through some sort of outer space musical dimension. The smooth, gentle approach from the vocals is absolutely awesome as well, especially as the experimental sounds in the tune intensify. I really dig the deep and bass drums keeping the tune moving along in this one. Really sweet tune.
“I Won’t Leave My Wooden Wife for You, Sugar” is incredibly interesting right away, and almost has a bit of psychedelic folk rock feel between the different, nearly twangy vocals from a different vocalist from the other tunes so far, combined with a part from a fiddle of sorts, and a sort of country folk rhythm section from the tasty drums and slick bass. There are a ton of great and tasty keyboard parts too that fill up the soundscape with a variety of instrumental sounds, which range from distorted guitaresque to smooth keys and more. Oh wow, this little horn part at the end is super interesting, and keeps the tune and the album both incredibly dynamic, even more than it already is. Great track.
Oh wow, “Where Is Yesterday” starts out super interestingly with some Gregorian chant-like vocals reverberating as if in a church from the whole band, while a keyboard or synth plays a bit of an ominous tone from the background and some varietal percussion parts accentuate the measures in the tune, with the bass gently picking the tune up with some low, tasty playing from underneath the chants. These chants are pretty sweet, they seem to echo and scatter throughout the soundscape in a haphazard manner until the traditional sounding drums come on and seem to provide a more foundational layer for the song to work off of. Super interesting track – I really dig it.
“Coming Down” starts at really nicely off the heels of the previous track, with the band having a bit of a jam that is more psychedelic rock oriented than some of the previous tracks on the album, especially in the bass and drums, and the guitar-like part from a keyboard. The different synths and keyboards still retain some great experimental flavor as the band keeps venturing further. Great track.
“Love Song for the Dead Che” almost sounds like a sort of Italian operatic piece that might be heard floating down the canals of Sicily. Oh wow, the keyboards and strings come together for a really lovely piece. This super lovely sound is furthered by the gentle, simple, and sparse percussion, which is carried along in this soundscape by the gently flowing bass lines. Oh wow, the vocals really fill up the soundscape super nicely. I really dig the organs coming on for a quick moment and adding a different layer to the soundscape. Super sweet track.
“Stranded In Time” has a super interesting sound from the violin and stringed instruments in this one, which almost takes on a bit of an experimental “Eleanor Rigby” sort of feeling when the other, nearly carnivalesque instruments come into the soundscape for a super interesting, somewhat chaotic arrangement that resolves back to the simple violin part from the beginning. Great track – super interesting.
“The American Way of Love, Pt. 1 Metaphor for an Olderman/Part II- California Good-Time Music/Part III- Love Is All” starts out with a super tasty psychedelic rock sound that sounds vaguely garage rock and vaguely like The Doors, as more experimental instrumental parts seem to gradually and naturally work their ways into the soundscape. Oh wow, this is sweet – I really dig the distorted keys alongside the electric organ, especially as the drums and bass keep the tune rockin’ and grooving along. Oh wow, there are some super tasty, super experimental synths and effects that seem to wash through the soundscape, only for a bit of a whimsical psychedelic movement to drop into place for a moment. Oh wow, the tune drops into a super tasty, and even sort of harshly distorted groove that serves the movements of the song really well, which eventually seems to resolve to some experimental sounding synths and keyboards. Oh wow, this is sweet – I’m pretty sure that this was the original final track of the album, which makes sense as it nearly feels like the band has brought everything back around to the whimsical carnivalesque introductory part of the first track, which eventually leads to a lone vocal part that repeats over and over until some super sweet strings reminiscent of “Love Song for the Dead Che” as the tune fades out and seemingly ties things up in a pretty experimental, and super tasty way. Great track.
“Osamu’s Birthday” sort of fades back into things after the previous track seemingly wrapped things up to a certain extent, almost as if signaling the band is still here for the time being. This is super sweet, it’s almost like an experimental raga of sorts. The vocals have a super sweet drone-like quality, which bring a lot of flavor to the relatively simple track. Really sweet tune.
“No Love to Give” starts out rockin’ pretty hard with some bopping bass and some really tasty drums with some great fills, all accompanied by some distorted keys on one side and some keys that nearly drip into the soundscape on the other. The vocals sort of wind the song around in a super sweet fashion that complements the experimental stylings of the instrumentation very well. Great track.
“I Won’t Leave My Wooden Wife for You, Sugar (Alternate Version)” starts out with some super fat distortion from some keys in the center while some organs create some more space in the soundscape next to the drums. Oh wow, this version is pretty different from the earlier version with the usual female vocalist in this one, though it still has a bit of that country folk rock sound flavor when the fiddle comes into the soundscape – though this version seems to be more experimental in general. I really dig the the fiddle in this tune, the flavor of which contrasts a ton with the fat distorted keys in a super tasty way. Really sweet alternate version from the earlier tune.
“You Can Never Come Down” has a really sweet psychedelic rock feel in this one with the sliding and swirling organs alongside the grooving drums and the bopping sort of bass line, with some quick lines here and there from a distorted keyboard part. This track is super sweet – it almost reminds me a bit of The Doors, especially with the instrumentation and more psychedelic instead of experimental rock inclinations in this tune. Great track.
“Perry Pier” has a super tasty sound with some falsetto vocals and short staccato’d notes from the organs the drive this tune forward alongside the nice drums in this one. Oh wow, it sounds like there’s an acoustic guitar part in this one, which brings a super interesting flavor to this one, bringing in sounds pretty different than those encountered in the album so far. I really dig the whimsical organs in this one as well, which bring some great swirling flavors to the soundscape in this track. Really sweet tune.
“Tailor Man” starts out with some super tasty distorted instrumentation with a whole bunch of flavor, which nearly reminds me of Gene Clark at first. Oh wow, there’s like a really interesting, relatively clean galloping garage rock guitar sound in this one, which contrasts nicely with the quick, swirling lines from the organs, and complements the super smooth, clean vocals in this one. The drums and bass combine for a really pleasant rhythm section in this one too. Great track.
“Do You Follow Me” starts out with some super tasty acoustic guitar work that seems to glide across the soundscape as the bass seems to steer the song while the drums keep this tune chugging along. Oh wow, the organs bring a really bright flavor into this soundscape which seem to bring the vocals to a really tasty midpoint between the guitars and organs. Really tasty and nice tune.
“The American Metaphysical Circus (Alternate Version)” really brings the swirling, chaotic carnivalesque orchestrations to a near dissonant level for a moment until the vocals come into the soundscape, at which point the tune gently begins chugging to further experimental territory. The main melody has a great resolving feeling whenever it comes on without some of the experimental effects, only to be taken further out again – super awesome. Oh wow, when the carnivalesque sounds from the beginning slowly fade in and out of the soundscape at the end, there’s a ton of great, flavorful musical moments that occur in the song. Really sweet version of the introductory track to the album.
“Mouse (The Garden of Earthly Delights)” almost has a more primal sound right away with the rumbling kick drums, which is brought to more experimental territory like the first version with the different synths and keyboard effects. I really dig this tune – this particular version for some reason reminds me of “White Rabbit” by The Jefferson Airplane, possibly in part due to the vocalist’s voice reminding me of Grace Slick to some degree. Great track.
“Heresy (Coming Down)” is a super interesting way to finish off this album, which seems to take you down memory lane, though in a more conclusory than the original version of this tune had in the album. The one set of keyboards are nearly hypnotic while the organs nearly melt into the soundscape, with the vocalist’s voice serving as a nearly guiding beacon as the tune, and subsequently the album, comes to a close. Really great track and really tasty way to end this epic album.
Wow, this album was awesome. After listening to this album I’m more interested in experimental psychedelic rock than I ever have been before. It’s incredibly intriguing to me as well that there were essentially no guitars throughout the album, or at least in the original tracks of the album, and only with sparse use of guitars throughout the bonus tracks. In a couple of tracks there were even some hints of a bit of a country folk rock sort of backdrop to the experimental soundscapes – really sweet. If you dig psychedelic rock, experimental rock, or are looking for a unique sounding album that takes things pretty far out, you might want to consider listening to this one. There are a ton of great flavors and unique approaches to the songs and soundscapes, which is why I’m looking into picking this one up on vinyl. If you do decide to give this album a listen, I do sincerely hope that you enjoy the listening experience at least as much as I did.
-A