UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS Notes from the Underground (independent)

No, this isn't another record from CiTR's own Nardwuar, although the Human Serviette did name an album after these local pioneers of psychedelia. Their history makes for some interesting liner notes: after a stint as The Molesters (yikes), the band opened for The Grateful Dead in 1966 (when some of the members were still in high school), and soon developed their own blues-based free-form style. The Loyalists were too hip to collaborate with "the establishment" that put out records - unfortunately the result is that only six of the songs here were recorded in the 1960's (two of these apparently at the CBC's local TV studio), and four tracks date from a 1990 Commodore show. The United Empire Loyalists' resistance to the more commercial sounds of the era is easy to hear: they're a lot closer to Captain Beefheart and The Mothers of Invention than to the bands that pass for pyschedelic on the commercial oldies stations.

Notes from the Underground is a fascinating archival document and will delight anyone with a passion for the 60's, but the fainthearted might do well starting off with a couple of the more accessible songs, like the bluesy "I know You Rider" and catchy, "Its Alright," which remind me a little of two of my favourite bands from the era: The Creation and The 13th Floor Elevators.