Laughing Sky - Free Inside (Alternative Rock 1996)

If '60s garage-psych revivalism will never entirely die, for better or worse, then it's a good thing that there are bands like Laughing Sky around to do the spirit proud. If nowhere near as freaked-out and frazzled, or honestly creative, as bands like Spacemen 3 or Loop, the trio on Free Inside has itself a good and freaky time. The end result comes close to something like the American equivalent of the Damned's Naz Nomad and the Nightmares guise, or XTC's tripping out as the Dukes of Stratosphear. In a nice enough touch, the recording quality is much more full-sounding than simple recreation, suggesting what a lot of groups of the time were maybe trying for but couldn't quite achieve. It's not glossy mainstream overkill or anything, merely rich sonic detail designed for a different age and different ears -- check out the instrumental breaks on "Arms of the Sun" or the chiming introduction of the title track for proof. Songs like the merrily spooked-out trip of "The Slip," all phased guitar solos and smoky rhythm trance and just-stoned-enough vocal chants and more, capture the spirit of things just right. There are covers both well-known (a reasonable enough "Tomorrow Never Knows," a mighty fine "Lucifer Sam") and obscure ("Here We Come" by Alvin Alvey and the Green Fuz, benefiting from some great walls of guitar noise). Perhaps more than once things veer towards the generically hard rock instead of the truly tripped out -- the very beginning of "The Future of Love" almost sounds like it's about to break into some lousy early-'70s nonsense -- but for the most part, this merry trio knows how to have a good time looking back on some crazy days.

AMG Review by Ned Raggett