Camphor - Silver & Gold

(Zeal, 2000)

Max Lichtenstein is the ringleader of the Camphor project, and as a producer and musician working with the extended Mercury Rev family, he’s able to pull in some interesting collaborators. This nifty little single – which was actually the only record released under the Camphor name until an album finally came out in April, 2008 – has heavy involvement from Jason Russo (Hopewell and Mercury Rev) throughout, as well as appearances by Justin Russo (Hopewell, Mercury Rev, and the Silent League) and Whip (Hopewell and Timesbold). Jason’s vocals feature on “Silver & Gold,” which is blasphemous psych-pop at its finest, its piping keyboards and dreamy guitar solo bouncing along atop some sludgy fuzz as they candy-coat lyrics calling Jesus a “sexy motherfucker.” Radio wouldn’t and won’t play it, but radio is exactly where this song belongs. The other two tracks are brief instrumentals recorded for the soundtrack of Jesus’ Son: The guitar-based “Mute” is a dead ringer for full-band, early-’70s Neil Young, and “Holiday”… well, “Holiday” has some fine organ and guitar playing, yet it leaves no impression at all. Really, the A-side’s what it’s all about, and with any luck some smarty will eventually rescue it from its limited-edition-Belgian-7” ghetto and elevate it to the cult-fave status it deserves.