Oozing into the aural field like high tide imperceptibly
covering land, the first song “Plains of Nazca” off Sun Dial’s debut
masterpiece Other Way Out leaks paisley gauze from your speakers and
crawls up your leg, covering you in the strange yet familiar warmth of genuine
psychedelia. This obscurity was first released in 1990 as an import-only
limited edition on the excellent Tangerine label. It is hard to know if anyone
who didn’t work in a record store even knew about it. I saw it on one of my
weekly import sales solicitations described as “indescribably heavy psych.” I
liked that idea and I loved the name of the band. I don’t know why but it
conjured up all sorts of good associations. As the British say, I was
gob-smacked the first time I played Other Way Out. With modern
technology and a doctorate level understanding of what made 60’s music great,
guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Gary Ramon carves a brilliant post-script to that
decade of music which adds to the legacy, honors it and in some ways betters
much of it.
Ramon is clearly in thrall of early Pink Floyd, Hendrix,
Love, The Beatles and the hundreds of curios (July, Arzachel, etc.) who populated the bottom of the British charts in the 60’s
but he is also an accomplished songwriter and arranger in his own right. In
addition the contemporary Manchester scene growing up around the Stone Roses
sound at the time is clearly also an influence. The result of these factors is
an album that sounds classic and new at the same time, and one that defies age
because 24 years later it still sounds classic and new. This is no easy trick.
It is because Ramon executes each discipline (writing, performing, producing)
with such finesse and maturity that the result is timeless.
Every song is a
monolithic slab of psych confection allowing Ramon ample room for his masterful
guitar soloing. He pulls out all the stops on every solo, never letting up.
It’s hard to not compare it to Hendrix, who was the same way: just immediately
identifiable and always going for the jugular. Ramon has perfectly sympathetic
partners in Anthony Clough, whose melodic bass lines and sheets of heavenly
organ strike the perfect balance to Ramon’s ballsy guitar and fuzzy vocals, and
drummer Dave Morgan whose Nick Mason inspired drum fills propel things forward
constantly. And that is ultimately one of the best things about Other Way
Out; it is an exciting sonic blast
from start to finish. Ramon lavished great care into every track - whether it’s
the upside down and backward guitar solos on the beautiful “Poster Painted
Skies,” the start/stop surprise of “Lorne Blues,” the Beatles-ish exuberance of
“Exploding In Your Mind” or the MC5-like post punk of the soaring instrumental
“Slow Motion,” each song is a thrilling trip through the past and straight into
the heart of the now.
I feel it is safe to assume you probably have not
heard
or even heard of Sun Dial before this, so it is safe to say that Other
Way Out
perfectly represents what we hoped to accomplish with this I’d
Love To Turn You On column. Working in a record store, we spend our
days being exposed to more music than the average person would ever be able to
take in. It’s more than any human can take in, but it means that you do get exposed
to things that are way below the surface of the mainstream, and some of these
things truly deserve to have a larger audience. Through the vagaries of the
music business, the fickle nature of public taste or just “the breaks,” things
get lost to history and popular attention. Our antidote to this is I’d
Love To Turn You On. Hopefully over the last number of years this
column has done just that and turned you on to or reminded you of some great
albums. To me Other Way Out is the perfect candidate for this column
because it is probably unfamiliar to most listeners, it is probably something
you will be glad you know about once you hear it and it appears as a deluxe
reissue on the extreme-metal label Relapse, so it is possible most stores
wouldn’t know about it, or categorize it correctly - or even bother to order
it. It is one of the true high points of 90’s indie rock, an indispensable
continuation of the 1960’s psych legacy and a damn fine rock and roll album,
and you know what…?
I’d Love To Turn You On
- Paul Epstein
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