Jon/Dave - Land Beyond The Sun

(Earworm, 1998)

I know you. So I know you’re all like, “HEY WHERE HAVE THE REVIEWS BEEN THESE PAST FEW WEEKS?” And I’m all like, “HEY I LOVE THIS SQUASH SOUP CUZ WHAT I DID WAS PUT SOME GOAT CHEESE AND SOME BLACK PEPPER INTO IT AND STIR IT UP REAL GOOD.” And you’re all like, “HEY THAT DOESN’T ANSWER MY QUESTION.” And I’m all like winking and sidling towards the door because I can’t be held accountable for my whereabouts and actions/non-actions on these Hot August Nights. And HEY now some cats are fighting outside my window! That happens from time to time. As does the release of a single by Jon & Dave, except here “from time to time” means ONCE EVER, this being a never-again vault-trickle from Flying Saucer Attack poobah Dave Pearce as he deigns to give us an audio-glimpse into his pre-FSA days. Which is mighty kind of him, going to that trouble and all, and so I reckon it makes me a churl for sitting here in my undies and coldly looking a DaveHorse in the mouth. It’s just, see, given that both songs were eventually re-recorded and released through the ’90s in forms not terribly different from what’s on this single (OK, OK, with vocals, heft, and noisy coda added to “Instrumental For Silence”), I’m kinda scratching my head over why Pearce decided to pluck such non-revelatory songs from his big box o’ tapes. Makes him look good, sure, what with the basic FSA thingy having apparently been figgered out by the late ’80s (assuming these tracks are representative), but aside from it all being wobblier and reedier than the full-bodied fuzzathons of the “official” versions, I’m not sure that we gain much at all from hearing this demo-esque pre-historical document. Thing’s kinda, well, POINTLESS. Which isn’t to say it won’t look good next to your other Flying Saucer Attack singles, cuz it will – the b&w artwork and lime-green vinyl are all up to the Earworm collector-dink standards, and you’ll certainly sleep well knowing that the whatsit was and is limited to 500 copies. And sleeping well’s important. SHADDUP YOU CATS.

Flying Saucer Attack - Coming Home

(Domino, 1997)

One more! “Coming Home” is a cover of a band called the Prisoners, done here in a very space-rock fashion, much like the Boston and Philly groups of the late ’90s, and not too far from what Spacemen 3 was up to in the early days. A terrific, repeating guitar part keeps the song in hypnotic head-nod territory while the ultra-basic toms and untreated voice give us a grittier and more human Flying Saucer Attack than we’ve heard in years past. And? Searing guitars and a languid tempo characterize the less satisfying “Hope,” which would exist as semi-aggressive filler on an LP had it been compiled – unlike all other FSA singles, these songs appear nowhere else, so you’d better pony up for this one if you want to walk proud among the Initiated.

After this, Pearce would put out one more album – Mirror – and then retire the group name, seemingly for good. As far as I know, there have only been his Clear Horizon collaboration with Jessica Bailiff and VHF’s officially-sanctioned tape-scrounging live/rehearsal CDR (PA Blues) since then. Even if it’s only gonna be further archival whatsit, let’s keep those fingers crossed for more releases in the years to come; FSA’s material didn’t vary too widely, but it was/is consistently satisfying and exhilarating stuff that hangs together awfully well – aesthetically? vision-wise? – as a body of dense, lo-fi, post-psych work. Where you at, Dave Pearce?! COME BACK!

Flying Saucer Attack - Beach Red Lullaby

(Planet, 1995)

Funny how little I have to say about a band I like so much; I suppose there’s a finite number of times you can repeat the words “fuzz,” “feedback,” and “distortion” before you start to feel self-conscious about the poor quality of your writing. Lucky dog that I am, though, FSA is in gentle, reverb-soaked Britfolk mode for the lady-sung “Beach Red Lullaby,” so I don’t need to trot out those overused and not-too-helpful descriptions this time around. Haw! “Second Hour” puts us on more familiar, noisy ground, but it picks its way forward at a pace slow enough to make it a suitable companion to the watery space-folk of the A-side. Find ’em both on this obscure edition of 1,300 copies, or take the coward’s way out and nab the Chorus compilation. Jerk.

Flying Saucer Attack - Land Beyond The Sun

(Drag City, 1994)

“Land Beyond the Sun” is sort of an FSA love song (lyrically), with the usual reverb, distortion, and rudimentary drumming blasting things off into drugged-out brainspace, though with relatively discernable vocals. The B-side, “Everywhere Was Everything,” takes it even further, going for impenetrably dense, searing waves of guitar that shudder and slither all over each other as the song builds to a lo-fi psych climax. The latter is one of Pearce’s best, I reckon. Listening to these songs, it occurs to me that the genius of these records is that reasonably straightforward tracks are being dressed up – and I don’t consider this gimmickry – with fantastic layers of fuzz that allow you to either focus on or totally ignore the underlying melodic content. And different days bring different preferences, as far as these ears are concerned.

Ah! Special alert for completists! This 7” was released in a variety of sleeves by labels in both England and the USA, and its tracks later got issued in that hot digital format via the import “Outdoor Miner” CD single.

Flying Saucer Attack - Crystal Shade

(FSA, 1994)

The “Crystal Shade” single – Flying Saucer Attack’s third – takes a mood-/texture-based approach rather than a standard “song”-based one. On the trebly A-side, the rhythm section is more implied than present, and Pearce’s sighing vocals are buried in the distortion-drenched mix, MBV style, creating a track that, for lack of a better word, undulates instead of, uh, rocks. “Distance” is a ghostly, echo-heavy drum loop that gets slowly overwhelmed by buzzing, churning feedback – pleasant, though nothing spectacular. Overall, it’s not as strong a disc as “Soaring High,” but when the songs are woven into the Distance comp, they make for relaxing, zone-out mood-music well-suited to autumn and lengthy bus rides.

Flying Saucer Attack - Soaring High

(VHF, 1993)

Flying Saucer Attack is one of my favorites, and the group certainly oughta sit near the top of any nerd-boy’s list of the great neglected psychedelic bands of the 1990s. It’s all about super-saturated guitar fuzz – which Dave Pearce pulls off in a quite pretty fashion, with surprisingly delicate melodies that are encased in layers of billowy (and sometimes harsh) effects/feedback. Pearce is also capable of standard psych-guitar heroics, as at the end of “Soaring High,” where he tears things up Bevis Frond-style while helping his cause with some aggressive stereo panning. These two early tracks push melody to the fore while maintaining noise-freak legitimacy, mixing Pearce’s folk and feedback inclinations more fully than much of the FSA work that soon followed. Those records tend to go for either gentler, voice- and acoustic-based space-balladry or neglect the prominent rhythm section heard here (check out the lumbering bass on “Standing Stone”) for high-volume, ambient distorto-float. The handy, world-ruling Distance CD compiles this and other early singles for those who can’t be bothered to hunt down the band’s many limited 7” releases.