The Deviants - Black Tracks of Mick Farren & the Deviants 1967-96: This CD Is Condemned

Title: Black Tracks of Mick Farren & the Deviants 1967-96: This CD Is Condemned Artist: The Deviants Release Date: 9/19/2000 Label: Total Energy Album Type(s): Greatest Hits UPC: 095081302723 Genre: Rock Styles: Psychedelic, Acid Rock, British Psychedelia Moods: Freewheeling, Messy, Playful, Quirky, Campy, Nihilistic Total Copies: 0 Members Wishing: 2 Number of Discs/SwapaCD Credits: 1

1. Somewhere to Go
2. Mona, Pt. 1
3. Attack Ships of Zeta Reticuli
4. I Wanna Drink
5. Screwed Up
6. Pappa-Oo-Mao-Mao
7. Eating Jello With a Heated Fork
8. Half Price Drinks
9. Billy the Monster
10. Bela Lugosi
11. Thunder on the Mountain
12. Garbage
13. Fast Eddie
14. Rambling B (L) Ack Transit Blues
15. Nothing Man
16. Junior Narco Rangers
17. Three Headed Lobster Boy
18. Slum Lord
19. Let's Loot the Supermarket Again (Like We Did Last Summer)

Year Type Label Catalog # 2000 CD Total Energy 3027

No other editions were found for this album.

The Deviants' history has never followed a linear path since their brief heyday as darlings of Britain's psychedelic underground. Nine of the 19 tracks on this compilation hail from the albums released during that time, Ptoof! (1967), Disposable (1968) and Mona: The Carnivorous Circus (1969). Assorted members have come and gone, with vocalist- provocateur Mick Farren remaining the sole constant.



The group's 1960s work reveals an anarchic outfit favoring fuzztone-laden social statements over conventional songwriting norms; "Somewhere To Go" and "Rambling B(l)ack Transit Blues" reflect yearnings for personal freedom, while "Garbage" knocks the consumer society for promoting its own disposable values. Other tracks, such as "Junior Narco Rangers," cement the anything-goes atmosphere with Frank Zappa-esque black comedy, and freewheeling spoken word chants.



Four tracks from Vampires Stole My Lunch Money, a 1977 Farren solo album issued under the Deviants banner, uphold the old aggression, while taking a more conventional tack. The standouts are "Bela Lugosi," a salute to Dracula's late, troubled star, and "I Wanna Drink," goosed along by brain-shaking guitar from Larry Wallis, of the Pink Fairies.



Wallis also contributes blistering performances on two 1976 EP cuts, "Screwed Up," and "Let's Loot The Supermarket Again (Like We Did Last Summer, " accompanied by original Deviants guitarist Paul Rudolph, and Hawkwind drummer Alan Powell.



Three tracks from the latest Deviants opus, Eating Jello With A Heated Fork (1996), reunite Farren with a favored collaborator, ex-MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer. "Thunder On The Mountain," "Three Headed Lobster Boy" and the title track find the duo melding chunky rhythms to Farren's declamatory cyberpunk-speak, to varying degrees of success.



Non-initiates should have a fine time deciding whether the guerilla garage antics of the 1960s, or the spirited, tighter-knit collaborations of the 1970s, and 1990s, most accurately represent the Deviants. This disc is a prime one-stop shopping point to help answer that question. ~ Ralph Heibutzki, All Music Guide

Name Credits Alan Powell Drums Andy Colquhoun Guitar, Bass, Vocals (Background) Brock Avery Drums Chrissie Hynde Vocals (Background) Cord Rees Vocals, Bass, Voices Dennis Hughes Keyboards, Piano Duncan Sanderson Vocals, Bass Henry Moore Sound Collage Jack Lancaster Electric Saxophone John Alder Drums John Gustafson Bass Larry Wallis Bass, Vocals (Background), Guitar M.J. McDonnell Bass, Harmony Mark Wheaton Mastering Mick Farren Vocals, Sound Collage, Compilation Patrick Boissel Design Paul Buckmaster Cello Paul Rudolph Guitar Raúl Conga Russell Hunter Drums Sid Bishop Guitar Steve Hammond Guitar Tony Ferguson Keyboards Wayne Kramer Guitar Wilko Johnson Guitar