Riders of the Mark: The Electronic Insides And Metal Complexion That Make Up Herr Doktor Krieg/Gotta Find Somebody (20th Century Fox 45-6694)

WHEW! How's that for the title of an A-side? Well, if you guessed that it's hard and crazy psych, you are correct! But you also get a tasty garage punker on the flip, so you get the best of both worlds here.

But first, let's get to the crazy psych. "The Electronic Insides, etc." opens up with the thud of a bass followed by lots of wild keyboards and electronic effects and a fast drumbeat A heavy layer of fuzz guitar is then plopped over the whole mess as the singer sings some kind of science fiction tale or something. I wasn't paying attention. I was too busy letting my head soak in the morass of whacked-out psychedelic heaviness, which may just be your reaction, too. (You can hear this song on the "Beyond the Calico Wall" compilation.)

And now, let's get to the garage punker. The drummer kicks it off and the farfisa and guitar take over with the singer going through the motions of finding a chick to be his. You know the drill. Before it's all over, there's a really cool guitar break with a touch of fuzz. Don't know if this has been comped, but it oughta be.

As far as I know, this is The Riders of the Mark's only 45 and it came out in 1967. But you get two perfectly good winners with this one, so that ought to make you feel a little better about draining your beer money away again.