Jem Targal - Luckey Guy

Obscure Oxide | OO 2601 | 615345260127

"Targal will always hold a place in the hearts of heavy psych collectors, as he wrote most of the songs on the Third Power’s “Believe,” which is absolutely one of the best hard rock albums of the psychedelic era. Due to “Luckey Guy,” he will also hold a place in the hearts of bizarre psych and rock collectors. And maybe, just maybe, there are some open minded folks out there who will be equally enchanted with both albums… 

'Show & Tell It' gains an extra weirdness quotient by having the lead guitar and weird electronic noises mixed so low that they come off like a radio broadcast from outer space trying to worm its way into the song. Side two gets much more far out than side one, beginning with the album’s strangest song, 'Bumble Bee Drive.' It has massive walls of reverb that threaten to drown out both the vocals and guitar, a noisy lead guitar that approximates the sound of a swarm, and a frantic, chaotic ending. The following 'Bomb Tune'finds Targal so desperate that he is eating worms, and the next song, 'Go No Go,’ is the album’s strongest attempt to rock out (which he does rather impressively, given the weird rhythms and lack of drums.)… The reverb, echo, and strange vocal arrangements give depth and fullness in a way that a larger number of instruments and overdubs would on a more “produced” album.” — Aaron Milenski

“A Turkish Leprechaun by birth, with a childhood fully immersed in music and art, Jem Targal first made his mark as vocalist/bassist/main songwriter for Detroit power-trio legends Third Power (their lone Vanguard album from 1969 still rightfully well-regarded today).  After the band split in 1972, a despondent Jem took up home recording, laying down hours of tape on a Teac 4-track machine. Jem selected the best cuts from these solo sessions in 1978 and released “Luckey Guy” — pasting the gatefold covers and handling all sales himself in true DIY fashion. The album never stays still with one style for too long, but rather drifts along with spaced-out guitar (‘Bumble Bee Drive’), tortured, dissonant piano (‘Ring Out The Bells’), culminating in a sparse, apocalyptic tale (‘The Bomb Tune’), with bits of childlike whimsy and Jem’s eerie harmonies woven throughout, not to mention a few musical touches that indicate its mid-1970's vintage. Were we to shamelessly namedrop, we might mention Syd Barrett, Skip Spence, Brian Wilson and Gary Wilson as starting points... But we're above that, for its the first ever appearance on compact disc of this odd and eclectic bit of loner folk/psych. The label tracked down the master-tapes, miraculously still in storage at the original pressing plant, and created a mini-LP sleeve replica of the original album jacket, that includes an insert booklet with liner notes and newly-transcribed lyrics handwritten by Jem himself. Audio digitally transferred, with no added compression or equalisation, from the 1/4" analogue two-track master reels.”