Too Much Noise

Although they were blessed with two excellent in-house songwriters ( and ) and produced several above-the-mill singles in the mid-'60s, Florida's never captured any kind of national attention, which is hard to believe given the vitality, quality, and proto-punk punch of the band's material. After releasing a debut single for Florida label in early 1966, the group signed with West coast-based , eventually issuing three excellent singles with them in 1966 before jumping to in 1967. This set collects both sides of those three singles and adds in a host of previously unreleased tracks from the group's stay at , essentially creating, some 40 years later, the album never had the opportunity to make for the label. Consisting entirely of original material written by either or , the first thing that strikes home is how cohesive this set is. It sounds like an actual album and not just a collection of odds and ends, and songs like the band anthem the striking surf-raga the impressive and kinetically psychedelic the delightfully punky and the lovely, string-laden are all top-notch tracks, usually delivered with a intensity and sneering vocals that are all the more striking because they are actually based around fully realized melodies. In a fair world, should have been a widely lauded and celebrated band, but time doles out fate, and the band remains an obscure cult treasure. does a good job of showcasing the band's brief stay at . ' release presents a stripped down survey of the band's best singles and 's two-disc covers the whole arc of their recording career, and both are worth checking out as well. ~ Steve Leggett