DANIEL VAN BERGEN Les Paul solo gitaar marchall + echo installatie

DAVE DUBA Fender solo gitaar + echo installatie

DOLF GELDOF Fender bass

MARTIN VAN DUINHOVEN Gretch dubbel drums falta’s

PETER SJARDIN Zang. fluit, orgel, effecten Farfisa orgel met wigwam en echo schakelingen

So reads the personnel on the greatest Dutch Psych bands 2nd album Paradise Now. Though they are perhaps more well known for their debut Agemo’s Trip To Mother Earth, I feel that their 2nd has the edge in terms of the old Rock n Roll. I have very little information on the history of the band and they are sometimes overlooked by even aficionados of all things prog/psych, even by those adventurous enough to look outside of the confines of America and Britain.

The album starts with swirling, discordant, heavily reverberated keyboards as a lone hit bent guitar note gradually rises out of the swirl. A buzzing sustained farfisa note fades in behind this. Then the organ player starts switching to other notes and hits upon a soaring majestic and dramtic melody. This tells you that you are really in for something great — as if you are ready for take off. Then the track starts proper as the bass and drums come in all dum- dee — dee — dum. Almost military but lacking any sense of military precision and these geezers are to stoned and long haired to come over all disciplined on yeh.
The guitars add wicked acid licks over the prominent rhythm section. A Dutch tinged voice , echoed, though too sinister sounding to be describe as wispy intones “When we’re alone and really together, we will be in Paradise Now, we’ll be the rock that stands every weather and the wind shall be warm from the light that we burn”. Lead duel guitars begin to dominate the mix as Acid licks or occasional bursts of funky Wah-Wah. When the voice sings “When you and me are one, yes you and me and everyone” it makes my spine tingle. There is still some idealism alive at the end of the 6os, though it is tinged with darkness and not remotely Hippy drippy. 

Funky rock riffs fade in a split second after the opener. This lazy though up tempo groove is ‘Friday I’m Free’ and comes across as a kind of stoner ‘Friday on my mind’.
“Sunday ders no Sun, Moonday theres no moon, Tuesday I am and Thursday and Friday I’m free. Free of fighting, waiting and dying and hating and lying” sing the Dutch chapie as he celebrates the hedonistic weekend after the crap of the weekdays.

Guitar stabs and drum hits announce the start of Hunger. Where we are told of the singers ‘Nightmare’ and how “He wants to take her away out of my mind”. After the singer hungers for love the guitars wander on long solos. The vocals on this track are more an introduction to an extended guitar free out. The twin psychedelic guitar assualt on this record is something else. Also you soon get used to the Dutch accent of the vocalist. 

‘Circle’ is a organ dominated fair ground piece of a minutes length. The sustained organ fades into ‘Lonelyness’. Ambient guitars echo across understated rolling toms and this track sooths you out of side 1.

Side 2 (Kant 2) begins with the basically titled ‘Martin en Peter’ and it is Martin providing Tablas and Peter flute to a right rudimentary psych jam. The flute on this one are amazing and this alone warrants the jams existence.

‘? !’ is a spacey slow builder as a highly Eastern Farfisa rises out of the spacey echo guitar rhythm. More and more guitar is added as the once lead organ fades more into the background. This song is so much better than modern day attempts at spaciousness. There is a highly melodic middle eight followed by low volume buzzing and oscillating farfisa and more guitar. This is nice and chilled for a while and gradually the organ begins to reassert itself as the lead melodic instrument.

Tom fills introduce us to ‘Purple Sky’ which is the greatest non- Hendrix Hendrix stone groover you will ever hear. The bass provides a lazy blues groove as Astral guitars echo across the track. “We saw a purple sky” intones the Righteous Dutch brethen and I don’t doubt for one second they didn’t see this. The track just gets rockier and rockier as they are awakened from their stoned groove. You won’t hear better psych guitar work than this. This track even has a drum solo in a non-muso’ Cream (Ginger Baker) crap way.

This album is a must for all Psych heads, especially for those who love the stuff where Psych and Prog blurred in terms of style and period. It surprises me this band aren’t as revered as many other European bands. A stoned trippy classic.