The Deviants were an English psychedelic garage rock band that was active sporadically from their inception in 1967 until 2013, often taking long breaks between playing. According to the group’s Wikipedia page, the sound of the band landed somewhere between the British psychedelic sound of the time period, and the more punk and heavy metal sound that would arise in the 1970s. This album, Disposable (1968), is the group’s second album, and was called “goodnaturedly weird” by the Trouser Press. I’m pretty stoked to give this album a listen, so with that said, I’m going to jump on into the music.
“Somewhere to Go” begins with a super groovy bass line that immediately catches my ear, and the easy swing of the drums hooks me even further into the sound. Oh wow, the vocals have a strange quality that truly does remind me of the earlier days of punk rock. Oh wow, the organs come in with this big, ominous sort of sound, and I’m really digging the resulting soundscape. The overall sound reminds me a lot of the Los Angeles psychedelic rock sound with the sort of darker and a bit heavier vibes. Oh wow, the band builds up to a gradually moving, heavy jam, until the instruments seem to fade away back to the tentative bass line and drums from the beginning of the tune. This track reminds me a bit of The Other Half in some respects, and The Doors in other aspects, both of which were L.A. area psychedelic rock bands, and The Other Half had a sort of proto-punk sound to some degree. I really dig the drums right now, which seem to be digging into an almost primal rhythm. Oh wow, the jam seems to have lost a bit of the raw proto-punk flavor to some degree, but has replaced it with some super tasty and somewhat chaotic psychedelic garage rock jamming. Wow, great track, and I’m excited to hear more.
Oh wow, “Sparrows and Wires” has a gentle, sort of bluesy jazz swing with some spoken word about making records. Great tune, and I’m even further hooked into the album now.
“Jamie’s Song” feels like a slowly building, psychedelic prog rock jam with plenty of garage rock flavor. This track sort of reminds me of Fields a bit, another psychedelic rock band from the time period. The vocals are a spoken-word poetry that seems to build up tension with the pacing of the lyrics in a really awesome way. Oh wow, this track is super groovy. I’m very much hooked into the album at this point, and I’m already looking up whether it’s feasible to pick it up on vinyl. Great track.
Oh wow, “You’ve Got to Hold On” gets grooving in a super flavorful psychedelic blues style that reminds me a lot of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and then the harmonica comes in and dials the flavor up to 11, creating a sound that reminds me a fair deal of the hit track, “Psychotic Reaction”, by the psychedelic garage rock band Count Five. Oh wow, this track keeps building up the flavor even more and more as the jams keep flowing and growing. Oh wow, I really dig the bass line in this track. Great tune.
Oh wow, “Fire in the City” gets into a super groovy psychedelic garage funk sort of sound with the brass instrumentation accompanied by a funky rhythm section and some guitar work that adds some flavorful accentuations in the form of clean and quick staccato’d chords. Oh wow, the garage rock sound sort of fades out for something that almost brings in a jazz element to the funk sound. The track almost has a sort of sound that feels like a British garage rock band moved to New Orleans for a year or two and this is a song that they would have played. Great track.
Oh wow, “Let’s Loot the Supermarket” has a very melodic feel in the instrumentation, while the chorus vocals take on a very informal, almost punk-feeling sound, which seems to be in line with the name of the song. Oh wow, it sounds like the band had a great time recording this track as the vocals seem to break into laughter at points. I’m really digging this track. Holy smokes, the harmonica comes in at the end and ties up the tune incredibly well. Great tune.
“Pappa-Oo-Mao-Mao” has a super interesting, gritty playful feel, as though the band is the house band for the night of a very informal, incredibly fun gathering of sorts. Oh wow, the instrumentation stops for a moment and there’s a bit of a vocal jam that feels like it could be from a version of “You Enjoy Myself” by Phish. Great track.
Oh wow, “Slum Lord” picks things back up with a sort of gritty, somewhat bluesy, garage rock and roll sort of sound that has me really digging the resulting soundscape. Oh wow, there’s a vocal line that has a really smooth quality that comes in for a moment. Holy smokes, the piano accentuations during this noisy, chaotic, super flavorful jam is super sweet. Part of the instrumental jam almost has a bit of a proto-shoegazing sort of sound. Oh wow, the song ends like someone just pulled the power cable on the turntable. Great tune.
“Blind Joe McTurk’s Last Session” starts out with a bit of studio chatter, before getting into a bit of a moaning delta bluesy groove that almost feels satirical in the greater context of the album of the album, and super flavorful as well. Great track.
“Normality Jam” has a super groovy beat with the syncopated drums and the smooth, sort of bopping bass line. Oh wow, the drums in this track are super sweet. Holy smokes, the electric guitar comes in with a sort of bluesy twangy flavor, which is soon accompanied by what sound to be church organs that gradually reverberate into the soundscape. Oh wow, this jam keeps on giving with some super groovy psychedelic flavors that almost remind me a bit of the early days of the Grateful Dead. Holy smokes, the jam keeps on developing even as the instruments fade out. Great jam track.
Oh wow, “Guaranteed to Bleed” seems to return the sound to a bit of a darker, psychedelic mood with the organs at the beginning of the track. Holy smokes, the piano comes in with some super bluesy lines, while being backed by a really groovy bluesy swing in the drums. Holy smokes, this tune is awesome. Oh wow, the accentuations from the guitar with the super bluesy licks are absolutely awesome. Oh wow, the tune seems to have changed to a major key sound for a moment. Holy smokes, this tune seems to keep gently and gradually evolving with some awesome bluesy flavors. Wow, awesome tune.
Oh wow, “Sidney B. Goode” plays the classic “Johnny B. Goode” guitar parts in a manner that sounds like you’re on the opposite side of a wall from the band. Oh wow, there’s a second guitar part that comes into focus more as the tune progresses and plays some super tasty licks that fit the context of the track really well. Super sweet track.
Oh wow, “Last Man” has a very dark sound at the very beginning of the track, producing a soundscape of ominous droning of organs and whispers that seem to reverberate through the soundscape. The style of the tune feels similar to The Doors if Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys were singing in a Jim Morrison-like style. Oh wow, the effects from the ominous instrumentation seems to take the tune pretty far out as the album begins to wind up. The soundscape at the moment almost reminds me a bit of Gong. I really dig the plucking of the acoustic guitar from the background, which almost makes the tune have a haunted psychedelic cowboy sort of sound. This final track is both strange and a very satisfying way to tie together this album. Oh wow, the noises seem to fade away as the track comes to an end, bringing about a massive release in tension before some final sound effects come in to gently wrap up the tune. Great tune, and an awesome way to finish this album.
Wow, this album was awesome. There were a ton of super great psychedelic flavors, which ranged from a jam-style, to blues, to a darker, almost proto-punk acid rock style. If you’re fans of Los Angeles-based psychedelic rock from the mid to late 1960s, you might want to consider checking out this album. I’m already looking into picking this one up on vinyl. If you do decide to give this album a listen, I sincerely do hope that you enjoy the listening experience at least as much as I did.
-A