MICK FARREN Mona Carnivorous Circus orig 70 UK psych LP

$

74

Ex-Deviants frontman Mick Farren explores similar twisted and raunchy heavy rock that's the very definition of drug-addled here, an opinion only enhanced by the appearance of fellow space travellers Twink and "Shagrat the Vagrant", otherwise known as Steve "Peregrine" Took, both of whom would follow Mick after this LP into the realm of the Pink Fairies. It's only fitting that Mick was inspired to record this, his first "solo" LP after the breakup of the Deviants, during a two hour live freakout in Vancouver. This is 1970's "Mona and the Carnivorous Circus", from 1970 on the UK Transatlantic label. You'll notice right off the bat how very un-psychedelic the cover art here is, and that's because Mick's brand of heavy psychedelia is far less flighty than his cohorts Twink and Shagrat - this album is rooted in a rawer, dirtier and grimier Captain Beefheart blues sound, equally demented of course. The title is also perfectly workmanlike, since this LP is basically the two-part sound collage "Carnivorous Circus" bookended by two takes on Bo Diddley's "Mona". Mick's sings his version of "Mona" in a raw-throated gravelly voice that only invites more comparisons to Mister Beefheart and his Magic Band, while his band of deviants pound out a rudimentary Bo Diddley beat as if performed by a herd of mastodons - a giant elephantine stomp with shimmering dirty guitar, shakin' tambourine-led Santana riffs and some sawing Roy Wood and the Move cello. It fades out on an overly-sustained organ note and some trippy speaker-to-speaker effects, ushering in the first part of "The Carnivorous Circus". The lengthy Circus makes up the bulk of the album, and is divided into segments given different names like "But Charlie It's Still Moving" and "Observe the Ravens", none of which make much sense if you're not having whatever they're having. All you need to know is that "Carnivorous Circus" is really just a medley of song snippets, sound collages and spoken word bits, like interviews with Hells Angels members and sound bytes from Hitler's speeches. And sure, there are also a few honest-to-goodness acid psych tunes scattered among the rubble. Highlights include the bit known as "Society of Horsemen", a KILLER slice of deep wah wah acid funk that's as out-there and dementedly groovy as early "Maggot Brain" Funkadelic, as good a reference point for this album as any other really. Mick's paint-peeling gravelly screams gradually descend into whimpering insanity, while the trippy wah wah guitar locks into a life-or-death struggle with some wild Keith Emerson flying organ. The part called "You Can't Move Me" is vintage Deviants/Pink Fairies pounding acid rock with some old-time radio broadcasts cutting in and out. Which leads directly into the equally bizarre "In My Window Box", a segment that only serves to make this circus trip even more frightening, finally culminating in the glorioius 4-minute dual guitar spaghetti western bliss-out of "An Epitaph Can Point the Way". Which is as nice a way to come down as Clapton's lengthy coda to "Layla" was, and gives us a nice breather before plunging into the heavier, longer and dirtier version of "Mona" that closes the album. It's quite a ride, like combining "Trout Mask Replica" with Kim Fowley's "Outrageous", with a touch of Twink's "Think Pink" and any one of the Pink Fairies albums. They didn't call it "punk rock" back then, but you could certainly make a case that THIS was punk in the time of hippies. They just don't make 'em like this anymore. Here's another review that perhaps does a better job of putting this madness into words, taken from the All Music Guide: "Following on from the disheveled collapse of the Deviants, the wired delinquent garage fuzz monster which propelled him to counterculture superstardom, Mick Farren convened a more-or-less all-star band from the same disreputable circles he'd always moved in. Carnivorous Circus was cut, the first essential album of the 1970s, and its still one of the most unrepentantly nasty, gratuitously ugly records ever made. Rock history loves to bandy those terms around, then apply them to this week's most fashionable long-haired gnarly snarlies. And it's true, the Pretty Things, the MC5, the Pink Fairies, the Broughtons, any of the myriad '60s freakbeat bands captured on sundry Nuggets and Pebbles type collections, they've all dipped a toe into those malevolently murky waters. Some of them have even swum around a little. Carnivorous Circus goes the whole hog and then some, holding its breath and descending to the seabed. Now it owns a roadhouse and wrestles giant squid for fun. The brief opening blur of Bo Diddley's "Mona" captures the amphetamine frenzy which is the circus' guiding fire -- half an hour later, the same juggernaut resurfaces for a seven minute nightmare sodden in churning riffs, agonized fiddle, and death abyss vocals so absurdly, irresistibly hypnotic that, by the time it ends, life itself suddenly seems a little emptier. A lot safer, but a little emptier. The heart of the album, of course, is the title track, a two part (28-minute) patchwork of clowns, jugglers, acrobats, and lion tamers, bellicose verse, fragmentary melody, isolated riffs, and brutal conversation. Simultaneously relentlessly self-indulgent and ruthlessly riveting, few of the performances are long enough to make more than a passing impression. All, however, ensure that the impression itself is a brick-shaped contusion, while a moment of relative sanity amidships, a saber-toothed take on "Summertime Blues," only offers relief by virtue of its familiarity. Otherwise it's battering business as usual. Carnivorous Circus is not an album for the faint of heart; it should not be played if you can't run away, and certainly shouldn't be filed alongside all those other little ditties you have tucked away on the garageland shelf. Not because it'll beat them all up -- that, after all, goes without saying -- but because none of them will ever sound the same again. Threats are only meaningful if you think they might be carried out. Carnivorous Circus doesn't even leave time for you to think." Original 1970 pressing on the UK Transatlantic label. Cover's in EXCELLENT shape with just a few creases. Vinyl plays EXCELLENT as well, really nice shape. 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