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The Flamin' Groovies — Now
(Liberation Hall 5066, 1978/2022, LP)

by Henry Schneider, Published 2022-05-23

Now Cover art

The Flamin' Groovies was a long running American garage band that formed in San Francisco back in 1965 who are also considered one of the forerunners of punk rock. In 1972 their emphasis shifted towards British Invasion power pop, and their fourth and fifth albums were produced by Dave Edmunds at Rockfield Studios in Wales. The band continued soldiering on until their breakup in 1991. After a couple of limited reunions, the Flamin’ Groovies reformed in 2013 and continued to 2019 when founding member Roy Loney passed away. Their fifth album, Now, is a set of fourteen jangly power pop songs from 1978, ten of which are covers. The album kicks off with a cover of Gene Clark’s “Feel a Whole Lot Better” that sounds pretty much like The Byrds. Other covers include Dave Edmunds’ “Move It” and “Yeah My Baby,” Paul Revere and The Raiders’ “Ups and Downs,” King Curtis’ “Reminiscing,” the doo-wop boogie “House of Blue Lights” rendered as jangle pop, the Stones’ “Blue Turns to Gray” and “Paint It Black,” and the Beatles’ “There’s a Place” to close the album. The only proto-punk sound I can hear is on “Yeah My Baby” where there is a bit of a Lou Reed vibe. Overall, the sound quality is quite tinny, which possibly could have been enhanced with today’s technology. Now has been released and re-released multiple times over the years; this time Liberation Hall is reissuing it on CD and two vinyl versions, black or black and blue splatter. So if you want to add an album of West Coast jangle pop to your collection, now is your chance.

Filed under: Reissues, 2022 releases, 1978 recordings

Related artist(s): The Flamin' Groovies

More info
http://flamingroovies.bandcamp.com/album/flamin-groovies-now

 

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