"(We Ain't Got) Nothing Yet" is an extraordinary and magical two minutes and ten seconds which, like the Box Tops' "The Letter," is one of those little two-minute blasts of pop which brought the transistor radio to life and which is the proverbial breath of fresh air on oldies radio stations daring enough to play psychedelia. Psychedelic Lollipop is the real thing, the band looking on the LP cover like Captain Kirk abandoned them on some forgotten Star Trek planet, the music inside authentic acid pop. They stretch J.D. Loudermilk's "Tobacco Road" across four and a half Seeds-style minutes, obliterating the Nashville Teens' 1964 hit recording in the process. D.Blue's "Queen of My Nights" may have inspired the Troggs' 1968 hit "Love Is All Around." The melody might be different, but the intro music is identical to what Reg Presley gave the world a couple of years after this. Producers Bob Wyld and Art Polhemus do a great job of keeping the intensity up across two sides of this album. James Brown's "I'll Go Crazy" gets splashy garage rock sounds and Mike Esposito's guitar work cannot be denied. Check out the jangle mayhem on "Gotta Get Away." According to the LP The History of Syracuse Music, Vol. 7, Esposito performed in the Escorts with Felix Cavaliere, and that vibe from the Rascals' rendition of Laurie Burton's "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore" is the same type of authority these kids pour all over "Psychedelic Lollipop." "One By One" has that band going from the garage group to the Beatles transition -- and what's so disappointing is that they couldn't mature in this direction. Had this lineup stuck around for the ABC albums, who knows what they might have been capable of? Psychedelic Lollipop is a solid and precious gem from the Nuggets vaults, the difference between this and other one-hit artists being that you can play the entire album repeatedly, quite an accomplishment coming from the era of the hit single. That such a tremendous smash like "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet" kicks the whole thing off is just an added bonus. ~ Joe Viglione
- Format: Vinyl
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