A 20-track compilation including everything from their sole album, plus some non-LP singles, alternate mixes and versions, a song available only on the late-'60s Soul Explosion compilation, and a 1966 single by These Few, the group that evolved into Southwest F.O.B. "Smell of Incense" is certainly the best cut here, much of the rest being average or below-average pop-psychedelia, prominently featuring organ, and sometimes employing horns. The ballad "Tomorrow" shows the soft-rock tendencies that would blossom when the songwriters formed England Dan and John Ford Coley in the 1970s. Actually, some of the better cuts are the least characteristic of the band: the These Few tracks, and the single "Independent Me," have a driving pop-rock rhythm reminiscent of the Five Americans.
© Richie Unterberger /TiVo