The inclusion of one of these songs,
"Gloomy Flower," on the
Love, Peace & Poetry: Japanese Psychedelic Music compilation might incite one to expect this album from this '60s Japanese group to be more
psychedelic than it is. Some of the material is
psychedelic, though of a highly chaotic, mordant nature, with
"Marianne" (sung in Japanese, despite the title) matching a gloomy
ballad to thrashing drums,
free jazz bass, and some searing
psychedelic distorted guitar. Much of the record is gloomy balladry without as much
psychedelia, however, or any
psychedelia at all. Sometimes it feels like you're hearing a particularly downcast
lounge band on a bummer trip, there's so much just-short-of-weeping sadness, some spidery reverb guitar being the only slightly weird element. More of that American
psychedelic-influenced guitar does appear on songs like
"In the Broken Mirror" and
"Gloomy Flower," though it's a little amateurish compared to the original article. They actually get a bit upbeat and happy on
"Where?," but largely the mood is as despondent as the album title. It's different from most Western
psychedelia, sure, but it's not that good, and not all that far-out or imaginative.
Vacant World, the 1969 follow-up LP
Super Session, and three bonus tracks were packaged together on the single-CD
Jacks' reissue
Vacant World/Super Session & Plus 3 Rare Tracks. ~ Richie Unterberger