Cyrkle<\/a>s (to name one). But hope springs eternal, and so the news of a new album from Strawberry Alarm Clock certainly grabbed my attention. Upon learning a bit more — namely that no less than five of the band members (out of six total) are guys who were on those early LPs \u2013 I was more than intrigued.<\/p>\nAnd then I put on the album. Now, one of the strengths (in my view) of those \u201860s LPs was the vocal work. And the opening track on Where\u2019s One?<\/i> is \u201cFeel the Love,\u201d an a capella<\/i> song that is quite reminiscent of Brian Wilson\u2019s vocals-only remix of \u201cImagination\u201d from the \u201890s. Great stuff. And it segues seamlessly into the dark, minor-key \u201cMonsters.\u201d That tune has more of those creamy harmonies (as backing) along with a delightfully atmospheric arrangement that evokes the \u201860s without slipping into pastiche (much less parody). Had the Dukes of Stratosphear given us \u201cMonsters,\u201d we\u2019d be grateful. And the whacked-out guitar solo from relative newcomer Howie Anderson (who joined in 1986, by the way) is a thrill.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll admit that upon seeing \u201cDay Tripper\u201d noted on the sleeve, I did worry a bit. Why bother, goes the thinking. The answer becomes plain when spinning the track. It\u2019s effectively an instrumental, and an inventive, muscular one at that. Strawberry Alarm Clock nearly reinvent the tune yet insert enough reverential flourishes to avoid heresy. It rocks, and hard, besting, say, Cheap Trick\u2019s version by a mile.<\/p>\n
The woozy and psychedelic \u201cWhite Light\u201d is intentionally disorienting and hard to follow; it\u2019s a bit like out-of-tune jazz filtered through a proggy sensibility. Truly weird to be sure, but commendable for its adventurousness. \u201cBlow Your Mind\u201d straddles boogie rock and a weird Southern California skewed pop reminiscent of Mike Nesmith\u2019s \u201cCruisin\u2019.\u201d The gentle \u201cI\u2019m Not the One\u201d feels like \u2013 of all things \u2013 a track from the first Yes album. And that\u2019s meant as praise.<\/p>\n
Another cover \u2013 another Beatles cover, in fact \u2013 is quite unexpected. Few artists have deigned to cover George Harrison\u2019s Sgt. Pepper<\/i> Indian excursion \u201cWithin You Without You,\u201d but here SAC does just that, and well. The band\u2019s choice of more rock-leaning instrumentation \u2013 electric sitar, synth \u2013 is a wise choice; they maintain the vibe while giving the track their own spin.<\/p>\n
Anderson\u2019s \u201cSince You Have Gone Away\u201d is a comparatively conventional melancholy love ballad, but the band\u2019s arrangement choices and heartfelt delivery make it a delightful addition to the album. The breezy \u201cLive Water\u201d showcases some lovely textures, with flute and vocal harmonies adorning a solid melody. It also sports a superb and lengthy instrumental section featuring beautiful solos on guitar, keys and vibes.<\/p>\n
\u201cPrimordial Soup\u201d is dramatic and \u2013 with its spoken bits \u2013 a tad over the top. But it\u2019s catchy, and all done in good fun. It sort of suggests in places what the Beach Boys might have sounded like had Brian stuck around after SMiLE<\/i>. \u201cThe Sky Isn\u2019t Falling\u201d is perhaps the most contemporary-sounding tune on Where\u2019s One?<\/i>, but even so it has a timeless feel that follows on from what the group is doing as a whole.<\/p>\n
\u201cTahitian Gardens\u201d suggests what a collaboration between George Harrison and Jimmy Buffett might\u2019ve sounded like, but it\u2019s better than mention of the latter might augur. The album wraps in grand fashion with a wacky piece called \u201cGalactic Symphony \u2013 Persian Skies.\u201d Stephen Kalinich\u2019s spoken word vocal may call to mind similar endeavors by Kim Fowley, but don\u2019t hold that against it. The music bed is a treat.<\/p>\n
In 2026 I certainly never expected to consider an album by Strawberry Alarm Clock as one of my potential picks for the year\u2019s best. That may just happen, and even if not, Where\u2019s One?<\/i> is a fine record.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Strawberry Alarm Clock got a bad rap. Thanks to their period-evoking name (see also: Electric Prunes, Vanilla Fudge, Peanut Butter Conspiracy et. al.) the group\u2019s image is sort of captured […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31975,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,51,57,62,65],"tags":[6004],"class_list":["post-31974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-release","category-pop","category-psych","category-rawk","category-review","tag-strawberry-alarm-clock","cat-49-id","cat-51-id","cat-57-id","cat-62-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31974"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32095,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31974\/revisions\/32095"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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Strawberry Alarm Clock got a bad rap. Thanks to their period-evoking name (see also: Electric Prunes, Vanilla Fudge, Peanut Butter Conspiracy et. al.) the group\u2019s image is sort of captured in metaphoric amber. Their biggest hit featured a guy singing who wasn\u2019t even in the group \u2013 and who didn\u2019t sound like anybody who was. As such, they\u2019re often and unfairly destined for the \u201cremember when\u201d files. The thing is, they had lots of great songs \u2013 especially on their first two LPs, 1967\u2019s Incense and Peppermints<\/i> and Wake Up\u2026 It\u2019s Tomorrow<\/i> from \u201868. They played with the subtlety and inventiveness of jazzers; listen to the swingin\u2019 \u201cUnwind With the Clock\u201d from the first record. And they could rock with seething, psychedelic intensity (check out \u201cThe World\u2019s on Fire\u201d).<\/p>\n