International Artists Records produced some of the most daring and ground-breaking records to come out of the trippy-cactus drenched Texan rock scene of the late sixties. Most notable of all obviously being the LSD-fried glorious wreck of a band that went by the name of the 13th Floor Elevators.
Led by the crazed genius of Roky Erickson (read the incredible book about the band by Paul Drummond for the full story) they defined psychedelic rock and allowed bands like fellow Texans the Butthole Surfers to go even further ‘out there’ years later.
Bubble Puppy were label mates with the Elevators and were equally freaky! Their strange name came to them while they were on some particularly potent acid at a Hendrix gig and this, their only album for International Artists is an incredible ride through trippy psych pop and harder rock. The stand out track is still the wonderful ‘Hot Smoke And Sasafrass’ single that kick starts this album, but the title track and ‘I’ve Got To Reach You‘ are equally crazed and addictive.
The Charly organization have reissued and remastered this seminal sixties album complete with eight bonus tracks with a hard-back book digipak cover and a booklet, which they will continue to do with all of the International Artists back catalogue. They’ve done a beautiful job with the remastering and packaging and this definitive Bubble Puppy package is a must have for freak-flag flyers the world over. And just you wait until the 10-CD 13th Floor Elevators box set comes out….
James Sherry