Mind Disaster

Personnel: Wayne Rogers (vocals, guitar); Scott McLeod (vocals).
Recording information: Connecticut (1983).
Recorded when the participants were on the verge of getting out of high school, Mind Disaster may well go down as the only album of its time and place influenced by the clipped post-punk power of the likes of the Mission of Burma and the Gang of Four as much as psychedelic noise sprawl. With Scott McLeod on sometimes distanced lead vocals instead of Wayne Rogers, though he's audibly present as well, Mind Disaster further comes across as an album in many ways separate from what followed, but that's not to say it's a bad listen. Far from it -- fired up with an energy and a talent that belies the participants' years, Mind Disaster is a wiggy and weird listen that deserves attention on its own merits rather than as the testing ground for what came later. Ed Boyden's drumming is in many ways the weird and wired heart of the band at this point, playing around with both straightforward rock rhythms and some more challenging approaches -- non-4/4 time, polyrhythms, and so forth -- that most similar bands weren't quite getting to grips with yet. Hearing the cheery, power pop charge and hooks of the likes of "Orange Acid Orange" and "Stone Cathedral" suggests what Rogers could have done elsewhere if he were so inclined, and they stand on their own merits as catchy, memorable melodies. Of the longer tracks, "Communal Storybook" veers into semi-Cream-ish territory without succeeding or sucking either way (great War-style break by Boyden, though). Meanwhile, the album-closing pair of "Close Your Eyes" and "Psychotical Delusions" succeed a little more readily in combining rifftastic activity and steady, straightforward beats and crunch. The latter especially lets Rogers cook up some mighty noise at points -- here more than anywhere else is where the later version of the group would find some inspiration. ~ Ned Raggett