While
the Palace Guard
never found any real fame beyond their hit
"Falling Sugar
and a residency at the 1960s Los Angeles hot spot
Hullabaloo
, this collection does include the rest of their high points, if only for posterity.
The Palace Guard
dressed in matching uniforms of indiscriminate military origin, and were known to don furry headgear similar to the British Beefeaters. While these gags were obviously not keys to success, they make for some wonderfully kitschy photos. One of these graces the cover of retro indie
Gear-Fab
's straight reissue of
's only full-length album, a self-titled 1966 release that originally appeared on
Cameo/Parkway
.
"Falling Sugar"
is here, as well as lesser-hits like
"Greed."
The collection might be worth purchasing for their cover of the
David Gates
written
Monkees
' tune
"Saturday's Child"
alone, a surprisingly gritty
garage
number with cool high-low harmony vocals, and a slight touch of the
psychedelia
that would have been creeping into the scene at that time.
is worth looking into by any fan of 1960s
rock
, or collectors eager for an underground find. ~ Johnny Loftus