Sidewalk Society - Strange Roads: The Songs of Rolled Gold

Fruits de Mer Records (crustacean 81)

Sidewalk Society is a power pop trio from Long Beach, California. They seem to be somewhat obessessed with 60s freakbeat/mod/psych rock which sort of explains this album. On Strange Roads: The Songs of Rolled Gold the band covers tracks by 60s UK mod/soul/pop/garage rock band The Action. The twist here is that these tracks are not their big hits but sort of "lost songs" recorded in 1967-68 as demos only and not released until the mid 90s. Sidewalk Society used their imagination as to what these great tunes might have been like if they would have been fully developed and I bet they had lots of fun in the process.

Now, I got to confess I've not heard the original The Action demos but what Sidewalk Society has done with these songs is just marvellous. I tend to prefer the up-beat, energetic psych pop tracks like "Love Is" but all the 14 songs sound fantastic. There are lots of excellent melodies and harmonies and some of the tracks also are more orchestrated (just check out "Things You Cannot See" for example). This is not really that psychedelic or mind-expanding but wonderful, melodic and catchy music that makes you feel good and (mostly) happy. Sidewalk Society have done a great job and I really dig their playing and singing too. Get this golden coloured vinyl album if you like 60s mod stuff with excellent, modern production!

sidewalksociety.bandcamp.com