It seems sometimes that the 5 years between 1965 and 1969 produced more exciting sounds than the other 55 years of rock music put together. The Allah-La's certainly seem to think so. Their first album was a delicious pastiche of Nuggets garage, surf and folk rock, firmly based in that era. Their second one follows closely the same recipe. Produced again by Nick Waterhouse, it sports an immaculately retro sound - maybe slightly more polished than their debut, with a lighter California feel (the title, after all, says it all), nevertheless everything here could pass for a lost 1966-'67 gem. The first few notes (from "Da Vida Vos") threaten to sail the album to uncharted (grunge?) territory but, spearheaded by some vaguely Spanish acoustic guitar, the rest of the song sounds like it escaped from Love's "Forever Changes". Lead single "I Had It All" is an excellent slice of moody garage with lazy vocals. "Artifact" is the third winner in a row, a mid-tempo garage rocker reminiscent of the Chocolate Watch Band. "Ferus Gallery" is the first instrumental, a surf/bossa nova hybrid with vibraphone that reminded me of those Italian Easy Tempo compilations of Cinecittà music. "Recurring" is sunny psych pop and "Nothing to Hide" a laid-back hippie piece, of the kind you'd expect to hear from Devendra Banhart. "Buffalo Nickel" is a catchy tune with jangly Byrds-ian guitars and Beach Boys/Zombies harmonies. "Follow You Down" is another mid-tempo garage rocker, while single "501-415" is fast and short, with fuzz bass and words spat out in quick succession, a bit like Barrett's Pink Floyd doing Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues". Probably the roughest sounding track on the record. "Yemeni Jade" is an atmospheric instrumental and "Worship the Sun" a stoned, slightly Latin-tinged psych ballad that reminds me of the ones Pink Floyd wrote in the 60's for the Ibiza-set film "More"."Better Than Mine" is Byrds/Buffalo Springfield-style country rock, complete with pedal steel guitar. The two "bonus tracks" tucked at the end were released as single B Sides: "No Werewolf" is a cover of The Frantic's surf instrumental "Werewolf", creatively employing a motorik krautrock rhythm. "Every Girl" closes the album with raunchy Stones/Standells garage rock that adds some welcome edge to this generally sun-kissed record. Now, I know what people will say about the Allah-La's: We've heard it all before, almost half-a-century ago. Only, very few have actually said it better. And nobody in the last 25 years or so since the first Paisley Underground revival. Hopefully the Allah-Las and their British cousins the Temples will prove to be the vanguard of a new psychedelic rock movement.
***** for I Had It All
**** for De Vida Voz, Artifact, Buffalo Nickel, Worship the Sun, No Werewolf, Every Girl
*** for Ferus Gallery, Recurring, Nothing to Hide, Follow You Down, 501-415, Yemeni , Than Mine
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