“The world is ridiculous, the world is ridiculous,” goes the repeated chant of “Monday Morning Prayer,” from Never Mind, by Damin Eih (guitars), A.L.K (percussion), and Brother Clark (bass). It is also an apt description of this acid-drenched obscurity from 1973. Not much is known about the Minneapolis trio, except for the music they left behind. Never Mind was a privately pressed, impossibly rare album before the appearance of this reissue. The music contained within its 11 tracks is positively unhinged, a mostly acoustic acid-folk collection that is as close to a pure sugarcube of Owsley as it gets.
Never Mind opens with a blast of punk-psyche prog titled “Tourniquet.” The song is a bit of a red herring, as the rest of the record settles into a much different groove. “Sing A Different Song,” is far more representative, with some beautiful 12-string guitar courtesy of Damin Eih, and otherworldly lyrics. Next up is “Take Off Your Eyes,” another acoustic venture into the outer lysergic reaches. Eih straps on the electric for “Thundermice,” which has a thunderous middle-section amidst the mysto-visions.
The trip continues on side two of the original LP, with tracks such as “Marching Together,” “Kathryn At Night,” and “Party Hats And Olive Spats.” The final cut on the album is “Return Naked,” which shows the trio pursuing a somewhat different track. There is a much more traditional, bluesy, even boogie feel to this song. For the most part, that is. Damin Eih gets into some serious electric-guitar freakiness in it as well. This may well have been the direction the trio were headed in, if they had recorded a second record. Instead, Damin Eih - who seems to be the leader of the band, took off for India. Like all great legends, he has not been heard from since.
Before hearing Never Mind, I had always considered Love’s classic Forever Changes to be the ultimate statement in psychedelic-folk music. I stand corrected. For anyone who enjoys truly bent psychedelia, Never Mind is about as out-there as it gets.
.jpg?t=20120527181101)
Article comments
1 - Brother Clark
thanks for the commentary. only comment is I played the electric on Thundermice - Bro Clark
2 - Greg Barbrick
Thank you! Nice to know. I really liked this record Brother Clark.
3 - Geo Dlae
Brother Clark- I am obsessed with this album! I am desperately trying to figure out the chords for Tourniquet! I figured out the fuzzed single note action but at 22 seconds it starts an Aminor and "walks" down. What the heck are those chords??? I know you were rocking the bass mostly but thought I'd ask. Also- do you recall what fuzz box was used? Man I love this album....
4 - Greg Barbrick
What an amazing record! I hope Brother Clark can help you Geo -- my best wishes!
5 - SDG
I remember growing up flipping through my moms albums and seeing the cover for this album. Unfortunatley the record was missing. She probably broke it into a million pieces.I have recently had the opportunity to listen to the album and I really think it is a great album. By the way ALK is my dad.
6 - tom
how interesting!! I have been sitting at work browsing and came across this site. I used to live on the same block as ALK and I wrote the liner notes on the back of the jacket. I am surprized and pleased the album is still around. Dale (damin) had given me a few but they got misplaced over the years. Tom