Emerge

's combines the sound of with -- all while vocalist does his best at times to imitate . and gets torn apart in the translation and is lots of fun. Lead guitarist takes the band to the world of with his the light feeling here a total about-face, a transition that complements the huge sound on most of the record. Opening track is that flair and West Coast vocal sound meeting . This has all been heard and done before, but emulate it so well that their concoction is actually quite inviting. is the band toying with , light years away from the garage, but working on a level that eluded when those ensembles strayed too far from their origins. The inspiration comes in loud and clear here, not only in the voice but in what the band is doing. The tunes are mostly in the two- to three-and-a-half-minute range with only the clocking in at 12-minutes-plus ending side two and an over-five-minute rendition of ' closing out the first side. The band's own works better than the cover of and, face it, that 1967 protest song was unique and difficult to re-interpret. actually do a great job of walking on this sacred ground till they give it a half-time / jolt years before that concept would come in to vogue; the attempt goes only halfway but is interesting. The album cover uses a negative photo pastiche and they've got the image down pat. Bassist does a fine job of producing his group studying their heroes and getting an A on the exam. It's just too bad a or wasn't around these parts to bring this to the masses. [ was re-released on CD in 2015.] ~ Joe Viglione