The 12 cover versions on
Sky Sunlight Saxon's 2008 studio release,
The King of Garage Rock, sound pretty much as you'd expect: off-the-cuff, psychedelic rave-ups! Credit goes to producers
Danny Harvey and Clem Burke, who managed to capture the band's (
Harvey on guitar, Burke on drums, Don Randi on keyboards, and Trent Stroh on bass) raw, aggressive, overmodulated fuzz, while
Sky's voice floats over the top never having to compete. It's that blend that keeps tried and true classics on the album like "Have Love Will Travel," "My Little Red Book," and "(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone" so vibrant. As for "Pushin' Too Hard" and "Can't Seem to Make You Mine," the arrangements stick pretty close to the originals, although "Mr. Farmer" has a folk-rock
Byrds feel -- which is no bad thing. As this is a studio effort,
Sky isn't quite as animated without that instant spark an appreciative audience provides; he's a bit more subdued. It notably works on "Come Together," where he talks the lyrics as if channeling
Dylan, which suits
John Lennon's lyrics perfectly.
Sky Sunlight Saxon is perhaps a bit more mellow, but nothing less than his eccentric cosmic self. As
The King of Garage Rock proclaims in the notes: "Jump to the other side. Save your soul today. Don't eat God's animals." ~ Al Campbell