Collecting releases from EPs and other random sources,
Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow is a useful starting point for those interested in this underrated band, while completists will want it precisely for its handy in-one-place nature. Looking back a bit onto Matt Tow's work here from the perspective of his generally peppier psych rock turn in the
Lovetones, many of the tracks here come across as all the more contemplative and dreamy, but certainly it's no bad thing at all. Songs like "Kaleides into Me," a fine combination of acoustic guitars and electric textures, Tow's voice drifting from out of the mix, show how that approach can readily work wonders. Even the most straightforward song, "I Don't Want to Feel This Way," has a fair amount of haze, while "Turning Grey" and "Wishing Myself Away" are out and out turn-off-your-mind-relax-and-float-downstream experiences. Arranged in slightly reverse chronological order, the newest (and among the last) songs from the band crop up first -- "Apple Tree," a nicely lazy hot summery flow of a song that's perfect for gentle zoning, and the percussionless "The Girl with the Sun in Her Eyes," with sitar and a bit of brass that calls up just enough post-
Sgt. Pepper's haze. "Step Back into the Sun" has the same epic descending beauty of prime mid-'90s
Verve or
Spiritualized (or maybe even
Oasis if you squint). Even songs like "Dream Sequence No. 1," a mood setter more than anything else, does the job with its floating textures and odd, recurring conversational snippets. Meanwhile, a cover of the Lovin Spoonful's "Do You Believe in Magic?" increases the temporal connection (and turns the song into a truly grand bit of psych confection by slowing it down and upping the tremolo). ~ Ned Raggett