Brain Police

The Brain Police's sole LP, actually a demo disc in a plain sleeve made with the intention of attracting label interest, is fair but unexceptional local 1968 psychedelia. It's one of those records without any serious flaws, but also without any seriously exceptional properties to compel cult interest (although, obviously, it got some cult interest, as it eventually got reissued on CD with bonus tracks). There are baroque pop influences in some of the melodies, harmonies, and arrangements; shifts in tempo and tune that obviously took some time to work out, even if they weren't that striking; tight interplay between guitars and organ; and a bit of blues and heavy psych to the solos. Sometimes this has a nearly AM radio pop/rock bounce that's lighter than usual for bands of this ilk (as on "Find Me a Moment"), but there's also grinding bluesy rock ("Gypsy Fast Woman"); the intro to "Adler" takes liberally from Cream's arrangement of "I'm So Glad." [The 2005 Akarma reissue replicated the album's original, ten-song track list.] ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi