STILLROVEN – Too Many Spaces
Stillroven formed in Minneapolis in the mid 60’s, and issued half a dozen singles between 1966 and 1968, among which was a version of ‘Hey Joe’ which is reckoned to be one of the best ever recorded. It was always thought that the band never recorded an album, but they laid down some tracks in 1969 which have now surfaced, and show how the band had progressed from a garage/punk outfit to a fully fledged psychedelic group. ‘Sundance’ is a good rocking tune to open with, and ‘The Green’ has some interesting guitar-work. The wah-wah guitar of ‘Girl In Blond’ adds to the dreamy feel of the songs, and brings to mind Barry Melton’s work with Country Joe And The Fish, while ‘Tin Soldier’ is an excellent cover of the Small Faces original, and could not be more different. ‘Can’t You Dig It’ harks back to their garage roots, and the version of the Motown classic ‘Get Ready’ shows that they can do soul as well. ‘Happiness Is’ is quite commercial, with a Beatles feel to the tune, and ‘Country Tune’ is just as it suggests. ‘Would You Believe’ and ‘Lighten Up’ close the album with some good rocking. I think that the last few tracks highlight the problem with this album, and that is that the band tried to cover too many bases with their music, mixing pop, rock, psyche, soul and country, and ending up not really knowing what they wanted to be. It is no surprise to hear that the band broke up after recording these songs, and it seems to me that the best way to sample their work would be the singles compilation ‘Cast Thy Burden Upon’ which has just come out on Sundazed. Try this one if you want, but it is quite a disjointed affair.