All Black and Hairy

The one proper album the band released in its lifetime, All Black and Hairy is both perfectly named and perfectly performed -- if it's nothing but a revivalist approach at heart, it's such a damn entertaining one that there's no cause for complaint. With its title track taken from the appropriately goonball back catalog of Screamin' Lord Sutch and its general snot-mouthed attitude from every last Nuggets and Pebbles selection ever, about the only thing missing are the lava lamps and garage stink. Saying the band uses the right combination of fuzztone guitars and echo and heavy frug rhythms is a bit like saying the sky is blue -- it's just one of those things to be expected -- but the sheer energy and abandon present keep everything from simply retracing the past to no point. Leighton's credit is for "lead screaming," and that about sums it up -- he's not so much singing as pulling off the ultimate teen-wannabe-Mick Jagger performance, only even more aggressively snotty. Ted Friedman's lead guitar solos with the right rave-up spirit and John Hanrattie keeps the core melodies going, while the Tom Ward/David Anderson rhythm section aims to get rears shaking instead of sitting. The album is half split between inspired originals (check out the concluding "Stoneage Stomp") and actual songs from the time, the latter resulting in fun versions of tracks like the Uncalled For's "Do Like Me" and Larry & the Bluenotes' "Night of the Phantom." About the only thing missing is the original studio recording of the band's best number, "It's Spooky," but anyone wanting a quick blast of '60s punk thrills filtered through later years could do much worse than to dig this one up. Later CD versions wisely combined All Black and Hairy with The Mirror Cracked for 71 minutes of lysergic energy. ~ Ned Raggett