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Record Collector Review, Feb. 2007

Tony Sclafani | 12/14/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"It was great surprise to find this rare psychedelic gem finally issued on CD. It was an even bigger surprise to find the (uncredited) liner notes were cribbed nearly word-for-word from a Web item I researched, using facts only I could have known. Oh well.



Nontheless, this CD prompted me to look deeper into what made this band tick -- and what relegated their LP to near-total obscurity. Below is the text of a review I did for the UK magazine Record Collector and a link to an article about the band I wrote for Goldmine Magazine.





The Koala

The Koala

***

(Fallout FO2024CD)



Psych-pop from the team that brought you The Blues Magoos



The Koala's little-heard 1969 lone LP on Capitol Records has become a Holy Grail for collectors, fetching 50 pounds or more for a good copy. This CD shows why the LP got psychedelic music fans so psyched. The 13 songs manage to be both catchy and trippy, balancing commercial, hummable pop hooks with oddball lyrics and arrangements.

Blues Magoos producers Bob Wyld and Art Polhemus took a page from The Strangeloves' playbook and promoted the group as an Australian act. But the group was really from New York City, and their aggressive thrashing portends that city's punk rock movement. The production is tinny and low-budget, but the well-crafted, Rolling Stones-influenced songs (all by guitarist Joey Guido and singer Jose Mala) transcend the disc's sonic limitations.



The band is at its best on the bubblegumish single "Don't You Know What I Mean," the Love-like rocker "You Say," and the frantic-fantastic rave-up "Strange Feelings." The playing is often garage-band sloppy, but the amateurishness is balanced out by the guitar wizardry of Louis Caine (who went on to form the early heavy metal band Sir Lord Baltimore under his real name, Louis Dambra). And Mala transcends his limitations as a singer with hilariously dramatic Jaggeresque snarls.



Tony Sclafani



Originally published in the Feb. 2007 issue of Record Collector.



Link to Goldmine feature:

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60's Garage punk Holy Grail

zphage | 09/17/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a real sleeper keeper.



1968 NYC kids howl, snarl and sputter (vocalist sounds like the puppy version of Richard Hell) their heart felt tunes with some AWESOME fuzz guitar. It is polished and raw at the same time. Recorded for Capitol Records at the time with a Blue Magoos' connection.



A real lost gem for garage rockers."

Very good hard/psych rock with an ear to the ground

Bill | New Jersey, USA | 09/18/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I hear The Who and The Move's influences on some tracks. Also, fans of The Real Kids, Johnny Thunders, and the like could get behind this too. And for those who wondered where in "Brooklyn" Sir Lord Baltimore* might have come from, the liner notes give a clue: The Koala are described as hailing from the East New York neighborhood.



*I say this because the Koala's "Louis Caine" later became SLB's guitarist."