CHICO MAGNETIC BAND Phantasm non-LP 45 HEAVY psych HEAR

$

52

BIG TIME HEAVY MONSTER sounds here, from the Chico Magnetic Band – a RARE NON-LP two-sider with gorgeous car crash pic sleeve from France!  “Girls of Ocean” b/w “Phantasm” on the French TUBA label.  EVERYTHING about this one SCREAMS HEAAAVVVY GUITAR – and it starts from the moment you put your frightened needle on the intro groove.  This is guitar-upon-guitar-upon-guitar, to put it succinctly, from a four-piece with more hair than Sarah Silverman’s arms, and what’s up with that death-fixated car accident picture sleeve anyway?  Who cares?  This is thoroughly wasted, Hendrix-worshipping MONSTER PSYCH, dripped and freeze-fried in brown acid, as good if not BETTER than their mega-rare album.  “Phantasm” is supposedly the B-side here, but in my opinion, it’s the stronger track, simply because it tries to out-maneuver the guitar master himself, Jimi Hendrix.  And that’s a lofty goal, for sure, but Chico and the Man go for it with gusto – the lead singer even THINKS he’s Jimi.  Murky, evil, sinister, crunchy – with wailing acid guitar on top of fuzz bass guitar – and echo, gotta have LOTS of echo.  This is Jimi Hendrix as seen through the eyes of the burnouts in Amon Duul 2.  The flip, “Girls of Ocean” – well, the title makes no sense, so why should the song?  Oh, it TRIES to – you’d think this was the second coming of Black Sabbath with its uberdramatic vocals and sinister guitar riff – the song even breaks in the middle with this wild chorus of angels!  But what does it all MEAN?  Girls of Ocean?  Well, as it turns out, I’m not the only one dazed and confused by this beast of a single – I found this lengthy but excellent review on Julian Cope’s HEADMUSIC site (and make no mistake about it, THIS is HEAD music):

The final chapter of Chico Magnetic Band came in the form of “Girls Of Ocean”/“Phantasm” and both sides maintain the same wild and relentless drive and fever dream-weaving as their outstanding sole album with a singular and explosive chemistry. And chemistry, heaviness and impenetrable vocalisin’ are all things that Chico Magnetic Band were the kings of. Why they weren’t bigger -- let alone how did they fly under everybody’s radar for decades is almost as mysterious as the band themselves. They’re so focused, it’s ridiculous, man: Chico’s gotta blow off a head and a half full of steam, and both of the non-LP tracks that comprise this single are the soundtrack to a fast motion clip of the sun’s trajectory steaming across the sky looped over and over again. Can’t puzzle out all that much of much of the lyrics, but since literal meanings don’t amount to too much in lot of the very best rock’n’roll, I’m not overtly concerned. In fact, it’s the impenetrability of Chico’s delivery that enthralls me as much as the band’s wrecked and unshackled and just-going-for-it qualities.

“Girls Of Ocean” is a stampede with the all the swiftly rampaging scorched earth qualities of “The Immigrant Song” fused with the stop-and-start-nesses of Jimi’s “Fire”. Dunno if this was exactly same personnel that barnstormed through their one and only album (Namely, Patrick Garel: drums; Alain Mazet: bass; and Bernard Monneri: guitar) but I gotta feeling Garel’s on drums here, as they are right-on syncopation every single time, finding windows of opportunities throughout to lay down another deftly executed fill or another splendidly wrecked set of tom-tom concussive blasts within the setting of fuzz-laden reinforced guitar fills. The guitar solo is a truly blistering thing running rampant for twice the length it should through lexicons of garage punk and proto metal riffing and it yanks me, cranks me and doesn’t even stop to thank me, boo hoo, HOO YEAH. The whole thing is a collision course amphetamine-fuelled dune buggy race about as errant as Chico’s coolly megaphonic and heroically placed vocals. “I am you/child of ocean”, Owwww...

Weird thing is, not only is “Girls Of Ocean” misprinted on the label as “Girl Of Ocean” AND slapped on the wrong side of the 45rpm single, but I don’t even think it’s the ‘real’ title of the song anyway: especially as Chico continually issues forth with the words “child of ocean” throughout. It isn’t really important but it’s hard to nail down -- almost as hard as figuring out if this was released prior to or in the wake of their only album cos as usual, there’s a dearth of hard information on the record, except for the studio (Europa-Sonor Wagram), the photographer and the label, Tuba Records.

Yes: Tuba Records.

What the heck was REALLY going on in France in the early seventies, anyhow? Sure they had Magma, Gong (Pip Pyle-era) and The Bataclan, but what was the deal what was the deal what was the deal WHAT WAS THE DEAL WITH CHICO MAGNETIC BAND?!! Where they the Sir Lord Baltimore of France with all the other bands on the level of Blacks Pearl and Oak Arkansas and/or If/Ekseption jazzbo keyboard/flute hacks? Damn, they were unbelievable and perpetually confound me with their unique genius and their down and dirty rock’n’roll that kicked azz and messed head so hard, so what were they doing signing to some unknown label like Tuba records before/during/after/whatever their respective stints on CBS and Disques Vogue? I’ve come across plenny of weird labels before, but in all my livelong days I have never but never come across TUBA RECORDS? Have you? The name screams “tax shelter”. Dammit, why weren’t these guys just signed to Phillips; they were weird and uncategorisable enough. But TUBA RECORDS... I mean, is there a Vic Saywell 45 on this label or what?! Should be! And its logo is the sort of generic weirdness more in keeping with type stylings of the far side of the seventies, and makes me ponder deeper than before exactly WHEN this damn stellar single was released: 1970? Or 1971, just before they signed to the now legendary Box Office subsidiary arm of Disques Vogue? Or maybe 1972? It’s ONE of these years, and the pop flavour of the arrangement on the flipside makes me intuit it’s after the heaving collision that was their 1970 (or possibly, 1971) album, so 1972 it is.

Gotta be, ‘cos there’s femme vox during the psychic breakdown on “Phantasm” after the Iommi-as-fock guitar playing a shorthand version of “Lord Of This World” (but played at the speed of “Cornucopia”) with Chico stuttering all spazzo/Chappo/Bolan-like as this slowed by mud in the tank treads blitzkrieg consequently strips gears excellently between said hard Sab assault and gentle interludin’ with female choir and tinkling, descending piano of compassion. Shoulda been used in the party scene from “Road To Salina” instead of the anonymous and straight pop number that did. It woulda worked wonders to hear “Phantasm” with its vibe of crawling on bloody knees desperately seeking the last unspoken truth JUST out of reach while interfacing with the visual of Mimsy Farmer and pals dancing and toking on joints in the company of Ed Begley, Jr. and Rita Hayward. Best part is when Rita comes THIS close to taking a hit, but smiles and waves it under her nose, as though content for a contact high alone (But if Chico Magnetic Band’s was playing in the soundtrack behind this scene, Rita Hayworth WOULD HAVE not only taken a hit, she would’ve taken a hit for her whole family and all five of her husbands, leaving a mere stubble of a roach more a thin cross section of Rizla in the shape of a completely hollowed out, 3-hole notebook reinforcement and -- whoops, just remembered “Road To Salina” never had an accompanying soundtrack, so maybe not.) But “Phantasm” is both a rocking and painfully reflective epic of rebirth: most notably after the searing guitar solo as Chico opens up his five senses wide and high as though channeling from a place of impenetrable dream and bringing it back down to this dimension in its pure, undiluted form:

“Let your spit
Moving darkness of the clothes I left behind
Of me and mine/I have regained
Alone I have be gained
By my torch of my ways
Are you, are you an awful image of…

Let me sweep our come
And must appear
Anyway, through the up and fun and game
Yeah, yeah
Fun and game, fun and game...
Lord, oh blasted man,
Blasted... blasted...
Blasted...”

The final female choir fades and then gently sets the burning pyre barge of Chico Magnetic Band out to sea.

“I am you, child of ocean.” Damn.

Original RARE early 70's pressing on the French TUBA label.  Pic sleeve's in VG++ shape with some pen marks on both sides, otherwise solid.  Vinyl has lots of light scuffs and marks, plays through like a warhorse (this is some THICK vinyl), VG+ on "Girls of Ocean" side, VG++ on "Phantasm" side!

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