“Ssydarthurr” kicks things off on Keep Your Stupid Dreams Alive like Syd Barrett performing a concert on some asteroid. With elements of early Brit Rock, taking the Who’s “Boris the Spider” to a realm where The U.K. Kaleidoscope totally owned, you know you’re in for a ride right from the start. “Weirdo’s Everywhere” is a jangle jangle pop sensation with an incessant chant/march of “hey hey hey hey” and a psychedelic video that Twiggy should embrace to relive her glory days. While Willie Loco was “in with the outs,” Prefab Messiahs are part of the in-crowd, thank you Dobie Gray, driving along with sixties magic straight from the Nuggets collection. “God Bless the Prefab Messiahs/so help us all” they shamelessly, and lovingly, sing for themselves…and for you.
“Orange Room” is drenched in authenticity and the magic we expect from disciples of the Strawberry Alarm Clock, Chocolate Watch Band and Electric Prunes. The garage rock of “College Radio” would be perfect on a bill with Richie Parson’s “Mixtape” – the clanging guitars a dream for those of us who love to indulge in this time period.
“Booshwa Sally” will “buy you bracelets that will …” engage you in her “perceived materialistic values or conventional attitudes.” You see, she’s bourgeois. “Bobb’s Psychedelic Car” states the obvious while the title track takes you into “Telstar” territory only with words and a catchy vocal chorus. “Prefab Flashing” is an excellent psychotic ending to one highly entertaining disc which concludes by going back to the future.
Joe Viglione is the Chief Film Critic at TMRZoo.com. He has written thousands of reviews and biographies for AllMovie.com, Allmusic.com, Gatehouse Media, Al Aronowitz’s The Blacklisted Journal, and a variety of other media outlets. Joe also produces and hosts Visual Radio, a seventeen year old variety show on cable TV which has interviewed Jodie Foster, director/screenwriter David Koepp, Michael Moore, John Cena, comics/actors Margaret Cho, Gilbert Gottfried, Gallagher, musicians Mark Farner and Don Brewer of Grand Funk Railroad, Ian Hunter of Mott The Hoople, Ray Manzarek, John Densmore, Felix Cavaliere of The Rascals, political commentator Bill Press and hundreds of other personalities.
