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Journey To Tyme - Phil McNamara Wormtown.org
My first impression of the Time Beings some 15 odd years ago was that they were a fun time drunken garage rockin’ surf band that when not falling off the rails of conventional tuning, could reach tremolo twang filled surf rock euphoria. On their new album they keep up the hard charging whammy driven surf that we’re used to and add a psychedelic edge to it. Considering that most of those Time Beings would want to (and could) kick my ass for using the “p” word to describe them, I should probably just choose a different word, but that’s what they sound like. I don’t mean that they sound like Grateful Dead / Byrds hippie psychedelic (then they’d have a good reason for wanting to kick my ass), I mean the Velvet Underground/ Iggy and the Stooges/ MC5 kind of psychedelic (and yes, those last two bands are psychedelic). The album is a down the middle mix of original songs and covers that works out to be just enough of both.
They kick the album off with the melodic dissonance of “Where I Come From.” The music has a psychedelic hum to it. Lead singer Jay Martorano’s voice shimmers like Roger Daltrey’s on early Who records. Preston Wayne’s winding guitar solo is super catchy. Martorano lets out a powerful vocal blast to kick off the title track. Within one song he demonstrates vocals with power, melody, and a huge sense of desperation. The tune shows Wayne and new guitarist Chris Cah (Actually Steve Aquino - Ed.)at the top of their game, ripping out chaotic, all over the place solos with reckless abandon.
They rip out a version of the Kinks’ “Time Will Tell” that dances that line between raw and melodic so well that you won’t be able to resist dancing and singing along. “Time Will Tell” is the song that makes me realize that lead singer Jay Martorano has come into his own. His vocals on this show no hesitation and no drop off. He keeps it up for the entire disc. “Watcha Gonna Do” has a simple bass and drum track on it, but is one of the most danceable tunes on the whole disc. It’s also got background flourishes of what sounds like psychedelic Farfisa keyboards. The Beings cover of “Love’s the Thing” comes off just right. You’ll want to sing along with Martorano as he sings, “Now I know how to dance.”
“Make Up Your Mind” rolls out some catchy danceable surf. Martorano’s vocals roll from Ray Davies’ (from The Kinks) low range to his own gruff style. Their cover of Thursday’s Children “You’ll Never Be My Girl” incorporates liberal blasts of Farfisa keyboard to give the tune that classic mid60s feel. The tune’s also got an all over the place guitar solo from Wayne. The whammy bar heavy solo that Wayne opens “When You Find Out” is one of my favorites on the disc and starts a run of three of the most memorable tunes on the disc. They run the gamut of this danceable rocker, into the angry sounding shout along “I Don’t Wanna Be Left Behind,” into the low toned somber sounding Beatles cover “Don’t Bother Me.”
The disc takes things into the home stretch with bass heavy garage rockin’ “I’m Gone,” Martorano accentuates the song’s title with a loud high pitched wail every time it comes around. They close the disc with a couple of lesser-known rough and heavy cover tunes, or garage land obscurities, as Captain PJ likes to call them. “You Won’t Find Me” is one of the rawest tunes on the disc as Wayne’s guitar clangs up a storm to open it. The finale, “Theme from Exodus” brings the disc in for a smooth landing with its soothing trance like surf. It’s the perfect contrasting way to end a surprisingly energetic album. It’s not just the energy of this that surprises me, it’s the tightness, the diversity, and the overall good feeling that the disc brings.
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