By the time
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band came out, it seemed no pop act was immune to the paisley ways of the high '60s. Even
Sinatra and the like were looking to stay hip with at least one or two
Beatles covers. Informed by their own early surf and psychedelia sound,
the Ventures'
Super Psychedelics brings the West Coast instrumental style to bear on the
Fab Four's "Strawberry Fields Forever" and
the Turtles' "Happy Together." Without much in the way of overtly trippy sonic accents, the band especially impress with a slew of originals like "Endless Dream," "Vibrations," "Psychedelic Venture." Throughout,
the Ventures' classic surf sound gets nicely augmented with the occasional sitar-mimicking guitar line, some harpsichord phrases, and extra amounts of reverb and echo. Maybe not an essential
Ventures release,
Super Psychedelics will no doubt please kitsch-friendly fans of surf music. [
Super Psychedelics reappeared in 1995 as Changing Times via the import label See for Miles, but that version is inferior to One Way's 1996 remaster and repackaging, which includes the LP
$1,000,000 Weekend and contains three bonus tracks.] ~ Stephen Cook