EAN: 0645270018623

Puerto Rico, too, had latched onto acid rock by the late '60s and Gear Fab resurrected a sample of the evidence with this straight CD reissue from sextet {|Challengers|}. At times the ban… Altro …

Puerto Rico, too, had latched onto acid rock by the late '60s and Gear Fab resurrected a sample of the evidence with this straight CD reissue from sextet {|Challengers|}. At times the band's sole self-titled recording plays like bar band psychedelia, and if that sounds closer to a pejorative verdict than a recommendation, it was not the intention. In fact, quite the opposite -- it is meant mostly as a compliment. There are moments when the music comes off like {|Three Dog Night|} as led by {|Carlos Santana|}, with pleasant enough multi-part vocal leads sitting atop more engrossing Latin rhythms and instrumental flourishes, particularly some fine, imaginative fuzz guitar work and incendiary keyboards. The album opens with a pair of strong, if moderately nondescript band originals. Emily is securely in the garage camp and pasted with thick organ runs, while Martha Does showcases Challengers' ability at milking a mood-heavy jam. Then comes the truly fantastic hard rocker You Can't Mess With Joe, the album's strongest song. Unfortunately, its version of Blowin' in the Wind is a rather toothless, desultory affair, an altogether dreary misstep that stops cold the momentum the band had created up to this point. It is a pattern that characterizes {|Challengers|} as a whole. Interesting (if not always accomplished) band originals are played with passion and conviction and often catch fire, but any indelible impact they might have created is fully extinguished by less-intriguing covers (though their spicy arrangement of the {|Lennon|}-{|McCartney|} composition It's for You has its moments). Still, the reissue is worth a listen, especially for those who like their psychedelia sprinkled with a few saucier ingredients. Music>Music>Pop Rock>Pop Rock>Pop Rock, Gear Fab Records Core >3<