LACEWING original 1970 Mainstream fuzz psych prog LP
$
82
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Description
Original 1970 LP on the Mainstream label by LACEWING. There’s a certain Spinal Tap quality to this one, one of the more obscure offerings on the Mainstream label, a label who specialized in obscurities. Not so much in the music, which is great melodic psychedelia with a hint of prog rock, but rather in the way the band must’ve felt when they first saw their LPs on the shelves of the neighborhood Sam Goody store. Classic Spinal Tap story – the band play their heart out, coming up with a mostly-hit mix of heavy psych and early prog, and Mainstream decide to release it in the WORST ALBUM SLEEVE EVER! Not only that, it’s a sleeve that has absolutely NOTHING to do with the music – I mean, I could see this album sleeve fitting a 1980 Utopia LP maybe, but not Lacewing. Give ‘em the Jasper Wrath sleeve, those guys didn’t earn it anyway. I love how Lacewing jumps out of the box right away, blistering out of the gate with one of the strongest songs on ANY Mainstream album, the killer melodic harmony rock of “Paradoxâ€. It’s like taking the Hollies and adding some muscle, and some buzzing fuzz guitar, beefing up the sound while keeping the harmonies and Beatlesque melodies. In a way, it’s quite similar to labelmates Ellie Pop. On the other end of the prog-psych coin, there’s the ambitious and ominous “The Storm†– all 7 minutes of it – and you can tell this one’s serious, because it comes in 2 parts, “A. Epicycle†and “B. Rebirthâ€. The actual storm arrives early, crashing in with some thunderous fuzz guitar, raging for three and a half minutes, and only then does an echoey female voice cry “There’s gonna be a big storm!†(guess she’s a little slow on the uptake). As her last word echoes and trails off, Part B creeps in on calm washes of synthesizer, like that part in “The Gates of Delirium†that ushers in “Soon†. Then, in a cool bit of inspiration that predates the Pink Floyd by a few years, Lacewing wrestle some screaming seagull FX out of their synths and moogs. Slightly disappointing, however, is the LP closer “Galvenized Midget†– not so much for its music, which is a jazzy little instrumental reminiscent of early 70’s Caravan, but because they COULD have done so much MORE with a great title like “Galvenized Midget.†And with a short drum solo and a barely audible snippet of someone talking in the studio, Lacewing’s one and only album finishes quietly, a far cry from the daring and confident rush of psychedelic electricity that kicked off Side 1. More prog than most of the Mainstream label stable, Lacewing still has a lot of pleasantly trippy surprises for newcomers. Don’t judge this one by its cover, please! Original stereo pressing from 1970 on the Mainstream label. Cover’s in VG+ shape with some ringwear on the front, frayed top seam and bottom seam has been repaired with clear tape. Vinyl plays nice VG++ with only light crackle. Winning bidder pays $4.50 for media mail shipping plus tracking within the US, $8 air mail to Canada, $14 everywhere else. Paypal, Bidpay, cash, checks and money orders accepted. Please be sure to check out my other auctions for more vinyl obscurities, and I will be happy to combine shipping costs on multiple wins.
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