Genre: bizarre
Rating: 3 stars ***
Title: $27 Snap On Face In Heterodyne State Hospital
Company: Heterodyne Records and Distributing Company
Catalog: 0001-002-00001
Year: 1977
Country/State: Sebastopol, California
Grade (cover/record): VG / VG
Comments: gatefold sleeve; blue vinyl, includes lyric insert
Available: 1
GEMM catalog ID: 5106
Price: $100.00
Some dealers have portrayed this one as a deranged acid-tinged psych classic. Like most things in life you should take that description with a grain of salt. Not intended to diss the album, but to my ears these guys sound much more like a competent bar band with an occasional fascination for ghoulish Captain Beefheart weirdness.
Biographically I can't tell you much about this outfit, though I'd bet my next paycheck they weren't really asylum inmates (perhaps quite a damaged crew, but not certifiable). The liner notes credited the line-up as rhythm guitarist Joe Doherty, drummer Ron Ingalsh, bassist Steve Nelson, lead guitarist Bob O'Conner and singer David Petri. Elsewhere some of the reference materials I've seen indicated these were from Sebastopol, California (slightly north of San Francisco). Self-produced, the set featured all original material, with O'Connor, Doherty and Petri responsible for all ten tracks. Sonically the set was pretty basic, with much of it sporting a distant, kind of echoy sound. 'Course I'd argue that didn't really hurt the proceedings. Petri's snarling voice (with his short blonde hair he looked like a Sting wannabe) and O'Connor's chunky guitar (love the unique $ shape - see the inner cover for a picture of it), propelled most of the album giving tracks like 'Turn To Glass', 'Kicking Around' (the most conventional and commercial song) and 'Let's Have An Affair' a unique garage-cum-punk sound. Strange liner notes coupled with tracks like 'Tie Your Boots Tight', 'Sleeping in a Technical Bed' (don't ask since I don't have a clue what the lyrics were about) added in a healthy dose of weirdness. Still, the results were actually quite energetic and entertaining. Mind you, this isn't an album you'd play all the time, but it's got a place in my 'keeper' collection (I'm selling a duplicate copy). The band apparently pressed 1,000 copies and all were pressed on clear blue vinyl. Early copies may have included a bonus single - ' Let's Have an Affair' b/w 'Kicking Around'.
"$27 Snap
On Face" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Tie
Your Boots Tight (Jim Doherty - David Petri) - 6:28
2.) Turn to Glass (Bob O'Connor - 3:34
3.) The Decadents (Jim Doherty - David Petri) - 6:37
4.) Two Timer (David Petri) - 4:00
5.) I Guess I Must Look the Type (David Petri) - 5:20
(side
2)
1.) Let's Have An Affair (David Petri) - 3:29
2.) Kicking Around
(Bob O'Connor) - 3:55
3.) Sally Hitched A Ride (Bob O'Connor - 4:20
4.) Mr. John (Bob O'Connor) (David Petri)
-4:08
5.) Sleeping in a Technical Bed (Bob O'Connor) - 9:24