Spur
Spur of the Moments
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Label: Drag City
It’s easy to forget that history tends to glorify a few names and forget many more. Rock history is no exception to this, hence a 2010 release of an obscure late ’60s psychedelic rock record by a band known as Spur. Or at least something close to the original record; the Illinois group was prone to name changes (going by the apt name the Unknowns for a spell) as well as member shakeups. As it is, apparently the prime cuts from a 1968 release entitled Spur of the Moment have been cherry-picked and along with a few stragglers of their largely unheard catalog, compiled as a forgotten classic. Which it very nearly is.
Spur’s sound is definitively ’60s; it’s difficult to even think of a band this steeped in psychedelic, country, riff-driven rock and pop as existing in any other period (well, maybe the current one). As Spur of the Moments is a compilation packaged as an album, it lacks a certain cohesion that does lend itself to a broad range of samples. At least according to this cross-section of their musical career, Spur dabbled in drawn-out psych jams, fuzzy garage rock and even some light pop. It also helps that the recordings themselves sound so vintage, echoing and scratchy from years of neglect; some music needs to be heard worn out, and this is it.
Going by title alone, opening track “Mind Odyssey” sounds like 5th Dimension-era Byrds, and that assumption is only proved by its tight harmonies, jangled riffs and spare, almost monotonous bass. A rising chorus and the occasional mini-guitar solo add to the impression, and it’s not an unfair one. The following “Mr. Creep” swiftly shifts gears, kicking up the tempo and adding an infectious, fuzzy, skank guitar. Two singers call back and forth, one questioning the eponymous character, whose heavily distorted vocals respond to questions like, “To what do you attribute your long life, Mr. Creep” with “I never used to bother little girls.” The following “Tribal Gathering/We Don’t Want To Know” is the rare 14-minute Eastern-inflected jam that doesn’t bore, sounding like a cross between Roger McGuinn’s jazz explorations and Country Joe & the Fish. The McGuinn connection is emphasized again in “Time Is Now,” whose quick, compact riff anchors what might have been a “Turn! Turn! Turn!” knock-off. The Bacharach-style pop nugget “All Over The World” is a refreshing change (as well as ample evidence that the boys in Spur could do more than fuzz jam), with a winsome chorus of “People say I look a little more lonely every day/ It’s the same all over the world/ When you lose your girl.” Perhaps most impressive is the piano-driven “Help Me I’m Falling” that shifts directions so many times that it’s like listening to three songs in one; a heavy, spare beat, alternating singers and a delicate melody all combine into something like a true forgotten bit of pop genius.
But there are clunkers, as in most things. The country-ish cover of “Eight Days A Week” is both bizarre and unnecessary, as is the rave-up “Be Tender, My Love.” If this collection of their supposedly strongest material is any indication, Spur’s great strength and liability was their own versatility. They don’t seem to have been content to plow their own row, shifting tones and sounds easily; it also means they don’t have a truly coherent sound, shifting when they might have been perfecting. But still, it’s a fine day in the sun for songs locked away too long.
by Nathan Kamal
