Can't Seem To Come Down: The American Sounds Of 1968 (Clamshell Box)

Rock music in the U.S. during the tumultuous year of 1968 was in a really weird, really interesting place. Of course, the years leading up to it were similarly unpredictable and full of contrasting sounds, but as Grapefruits 2024 collection titled Cant Seem to Come Down: American Sounds of 1968 shows, the various strands that used to be somewhat unified were beginning to unravel more and more. Garage rock was turning into acid rock as bands strove to be heavier, the more experimental groups were feeling even more so, while at the same time bubblegum was beginning to ferment and baroque pop turned even more frilly and precise. Add into that the beginnings of country-rock and proto-Americana along with straight-ahead pop artists donning love beads, and it makes for a wild ride. The collection rounds up plenty of big-name groups like the Band, the Grateful Dead, the Monkees, Tommy James & the Shondells, the Beach Boys, the Velvet Underground, Buffalo Springfield, and even Bob Dylan, while making room for cult faves like Love, Nazz, Silver Apples, the Seeds, and the Merry-Go-Round as well as loads of bands even the most knowledgeable fan of the era might struggle to identify. Some of these obscurities include the Yankee Dollar, Brass Buttons, the Sunstone Lollypop, Piece Kor, and the Sidewalk Skipper Band -- all well chosen and fascinating to discover, especially when balanced against the more familiar songs and sounds of the year. Any collection that includes songs as wildly diverse as Iron Butterflys "In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida," Brian Hylands "Delilah," Captain Beefhearts "Safe as Milk," the 1910 Fruitgum Companys "(Poor Old) Mr. Jensen," or Tom Rushs "No Regrets" is definitely trying to tell a big story with lots of plot twists and turns. For the most part, it succeeds. It might have been interesting to broaden the scope of the collection to bring in some bands and artists from outside of the rock scene, since the world of soul music was going through some big changes and even country music was showing signs of loosening up in the face of the youth revolution. That being said, the rather narrow focus does allow the compilers to really dig deeply into some dusty nooks and crannies to extricate oddball gems. A few of the real winners are Diamond Rings jangling folk-rock weeper "Which End Is Up," Del Shannons intensely melodramatic "Silver Birch," Velvet Hazes pummeling punk blues freak-out "Last Day on Earth," and Lemon Fogs minor-key bummer trip "Summer." Combine these types of nuggets with some nice obscurities from the big shots -- "Little Bird" by the Beach Boys, "Dark Is the Bark" by the Left Banke are nice examples -- and it makes for a collection that both casual fans and diggers might enjoy in equal amounts. Not every song will appeal to every listener, but the roller coaster-like nature of the year and the music born of it means that its pretty likely that the next one will. Cant Seem to Come Down: American Sounds of 1968 is another near-perfect collection from Grapefruit that leaves the listener looking forward to their take on 1969. ~ Tim Sendra