In their day, British psychedelic band
Tintern Abbey
stayed together only long enough to release a single 45, 1967's one-two punch of the
Deram
-released "Beeside" b/w "Vacuum Cleaner." As the years went on, those two songs eventually took their place in the pantheon of psych greatness, with the single becoming an expensive and sought-after collector's item and the songs showing up on various compilations celebrating obscure but brilliant bands of early psychedelia. While only two
songs surfaced publicly, the band committed plenty of material to tape during their short existence between late 1966 and the middle of 1968.
Beeside: The Complete Recordings
compiles over two hours of mostly never-before released music from the band, with demo-quality recordings, alternate mixes, scratchy rehearsal tapes, and a wide variety of other recorded ephemera from their brief lifespan. The collection kicks off with their best-known work, the Baroque grooves and daydreamy imagery of "Beeside," and the
Who
-indebted mod/garage psych blasting of "Vacuum Cleaner." The unreleased material that makes up the rest of the collection usually falls somewhere between these modes, sometimes leaning closer to the
Love
side of garage psych as on the arid arrangement of "My Prayer," getting into post-
Beatles
melodies on "Life Goes On," or exploring woozy vocal harmonies, energetic
Keith Moon
-esque drum fills, and conceptual lyrics of a rogue army of revolting snow soldiers on the chillingly trippy "Snowman." The production quality gets shabbier as the collection goes on, with multiple alternate mixes sourced from rough-sounding reference acetates and other sub-studio recordings. The instrumental guitar freakout "Bodmin Blow" and the stomping
Sonics
-meets-
Pretty Things
mod psych of "Witchcraft" both have the immediacy of a freshly written demo, with energy shining above production detail. The variance in sound quality can make listening front to back a wild ride, but the collection goes to great lengths to present a complete picture of this especially inspired, if short-lived group. While their sole single is a must-hear artifact of psychedelic history, there's more to
than those two songs, and
illuminates all of it. ~ Fred Thomas