This Can't Be Today - A Trip Through The US Psychedelic Underground 1977-1988 (Clamshell Box)

During the late 70s, the beginnings of a wave of music heavily inspired by the garage rock and psychedelia of the 1960s began to swell. Chalk it up to many factors -- the availability of a number of reissues, especially the Pebbles series, a disillusionment with the restrictive rules of punk rock, the passage of enough time so that the era seemed glamorous, the chance to get cheap vintage gear -- but the result was an underground that evolved in many interesting directions and even went quite overground at different times. Cherry Reds 2026 collection This Cant Be Today: American Psychedelia & the Paisley Underground 1977-1988 looks to document the scene, gathering together the many strands and sounds of the time to present a comprehensive view. Along the way, there are snapshots of the paisley underground bands, a heavy dose of sneering garage rockers, 12-string jangle aficionados, twisted psychedelic wanderers, new wave tunesmiths, and early looks at some future chart-toppers. Almost all the names one would expect are accounted for, although one could make a strong case for the inclusion of Screaming Trees or the Vipers, and fans who were around Detroit in the mid-80s would no doubt have a strong argument to see the Hysteric Narcotics in the mix somewhere. Its likely that residents of every decent-sized city had at least one band who donned some paisley and covered "Gloria" or "Too Much to Dream," which speaks to how strong the revivalist sounds were during the 80s. These omissions aside, the set selects fine songs from the big names of the scene. R.E.M.s "Gardening at Night" goes a long way to explaining the allure of their murky, mysterious early sound, the Rain Parades "What Shes Done to Your Mind" is perfect baby-Byrds jangle, Plasticlands "Euphoric Trapdoor Shoes" is bonkers garage psych that captures their snide brilliance, Game Theorys "Regenisraen" is a beautifully baroque acoustic dream, the Dream Syndicate show off their live chops on an unhinged version of "Sure Thing" recorded for a radio session, and the Flaming Lips "With You" is a dynamic piece of early self-destructing, awkward noise. Below this gold-tier level, quite a few bands familiar to fans and collectors of the time are given a slice of the spotlight. Some of the best are the Vertebrats proto-jangle pop nugget "Left in the Dark," Tommy Keenes echoing rocker "Mr. Roland," the Tell-Tale Hearts swaggering bit of garage rock nastiness "Come and Gone," Thee Fourgivens soundtrack to a freak-out "Anything," and "Dear Friend" by Flying Color, one of the warmest songs about friendship one is ever likely to hear. Not to mention wonderful songs by Wire Train, Translator, the Pandoras, and Dead Moon. Its all very good and nostalgic, especially for people who were there at the time lapping up every new garage or psych record they could scrape together the money to buy. What makes the set extra nice is the inclusion of a number of bands who flew so far under the radar that even a hawk-eyed observer might have missed them at the time. Chief among these finds are the Fans, whose "True" is a rip-roaring garage jangler; Darius and the Magnets, who deliver a sitar-fueled gem with "Saturday at 3:00 P.M."; the Suburban Nightmare, whose "Every Night" is a strong entry in the horror garage canon; and the Inn, a band who show on "Whats It Like" that they had fully absorbed the teachings of the Flamin Groovies. This blend of great tracks by well-known bands (add to the list of already mentioned groups a few more like the Three OClock, Green on Red, Redd Kross, Cynics, and Long Ryders), strong picks by the really good bands who filled out the ranks, and the occasional left-field surprise (looking at you, Camper Van Beethoven) makes for a collection that serves as a reminder of just how thrilling an age it was to be an open-eared and broad-minded fan of psychedelic and garage music. ~ Tim Sendra