DEAD SEA FRUIT orig. UK '67 toytown pop psych sitar LP

$

103

Another one of those lost UK pop psych albums that has NOT been reissued yet - and consequently highly sought after - the Dead Sea Fruit's self-titled and only album from 1967 on the UK Camp label.  It's a shame this hasn't seen a reissue yet, because there are some excellent toytown popsike tracks on here that every fan of the genre NEEDS to hear.  And while I see this LP sometimes get unfairly knocked as a kind of goofy Bonzo Dog Band rip due to a couple of typically English "old timey" novelty songs, there are plenty of wondrous popsike tracks on here to make this LP a necessity.  Not least of which is the AMAZING sitar track "Mr. Coffee Pot", a great acoustic pop psych track with excellent catchy melody and trippy droning sitar exoticism that would have made this a shoe-in for a future Electric Sitar Headswirler volume had that series continued.  There's a great whimsical decidedly English melody underneath the exotic veil, making this sound like an outtake from the long-lost Dukes of Stratosphere's unreleased third album.  "The 8:15 and the 5:45" is another KILLER chunky slice of vintage UK chocolate soup popsike, with bouncy rhythm and pounding drums in the classic Swinging London style.  File alongside Apple, Skip Bifferty and Tomorrow.  "Psychiatric Case" is a lightweight fun slice of jaunty British humour, in the singalong pub toytown style of late 60's Kinks, with a stirring refrain of "Psycho-Analyze me, Doctor please!"  "Seeds of Discontent" finds the band getting a bit down and dirty, in the style of a soulful garage band - it's a FAST paced jazzy garage punker with some great jangly DIRTY garage guitar and great SWATHS of Hammond organ pumping away.  A KILLER slab of upbeat Northern soul!  And, of course, there's "Kensington High Street", the sorta "hit" off the LP (which, in this case, merely means it was released as a single), which seems to take its inspiration from the Vogues "Five O'Clock World" or the Yardbirds "Over Under Sideways Down", with similar "Hey!" shouts as in both of those songs.  It's catchy as all getout, set to an insistent marching drumbeat, plenty of sunshine pop "la la la" style backing vocals, and of course it doesn't hurt that it was written by none other than Pete Townshend of the Who.  So with all these good things going for it, why isn't this album more well known than it is?  Who knows?  It's unfair appraisal as a gonzo British novelty album is probably due to the fact that the band seems to go for that old-timey vintage clothing look on the front cover, and of course it doesn't help that the label itself is called CAMP.  But one listen and you'll hear some great little popsike gems that make this a minor league version of "Village Green Preservation Society".  And that's high praise indeed.  Original 1967 UK pressing on the Camp label.  Cover in VG++ shape with the usual lamination crinkling and minor discoloration along the edges of the back cover.  Vinyl plays VG+.   Winning bidder pays $3.00 media mail shipping in the US, $6 air mail to Canada, and $11 air mail everywhere else.  Paypal, Bidpay, cash, checks and money orders accepted.  Please check out my other auctions for more obscure pop, psych and garage goodies!