Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats - Mind Control
Cambridge upstarts Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats have generated a remarkable buzz in underground circles by becoming the first band in the modern era to replicate the sound of ’70s Hard Rock. Okay… just in case you don’t pick up on sarcasm, sounding like the ’70s is hotter than a dozen diseased rats fucking in a wool sock on Arizona asphalt in August these days, so excuse me if I’m not blown away by the novelty of it all. To their credit, they do sound 100% authentic to the period, but as the 49th group to successfully accomplish this radically daring and boldly original feat this month, apparently it isn’t all that difficult to pull off. Pubic hair and butterfly collars are the new black. I get it. Fads come, fads go. Always have, always will. What interests me is good music, and while Mind Control is by no means a bad record, its filler beats the shit out of my attention span like Sonny wiping the street with Carlo’s ass after he hit Connie. (That’s my ’70s humor.) Musically speaking, the Deadbeats are appropriately named. This is total Psychedelia for Dummies, with the obligatory lifted Sabbath riffs and raw, live-sounding production. At their rowdiest, the band recalls fond memories of MC5, but too often they veer off into boring and/or corny territory. If there’s one unique/redeeming factor that keeps bringing me back for more, it’s Uncle Acid’s voice. Dude seriously sounds like John Lennon’s ghost! That familiar, nasally croon makes instant humming-the-next-day standouts out of headbobable opener “Mt. Abraxas,” hypnotic slow jam “Death Valley Blues,” and trippy closer “Devil’s Work,” but can’t save the majority of the LP from its Stoner-by-the-numbers doldrums. The vapid, upbeat repetition of “Mind Crawler” is a hippie’s wet dream come true, while the Far East meditation ritual (Yoko?) that is “Follow the Leader” back-to-back with the endless psyched-out sprawl of “Valley of the Dolls” is mind-numbing, and… remember that seated dance move Chevy Chase did in Paul Simon’s “Call Me Al” video? I can visualize him doing that to the main hook in “Poison Apple” all day long. Again, Unc’s pipes evoke a legendary resemblance that makes my inner Beatle queef. If only his backing band were playing something as instantly likable as “Rain” or “Across the Universe” to go with it. It will be interesting to see how many of these Occult Rock outfits manage to outlive the trend itself.
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