If
S.F. Sorrow
is
the Pretty Things
'
Sgt. Pepper
,
Magical Mystery Tour
, and
Yellow Submarine
wrapped in one, then
Parachute
is their more succinct
White Album
and
Abbey Road
. It's not just a time line comparison. The Pretties made this fascinating LP in the same studio as the Fab Four, London's
, with
Beatles
engineer
Norman Smith
producing.
"The Good Mr. Square"
replicates the three-part harmony
the Beatles
were so proud of on
"Because."
Two songs later, the group assembles a brief, interconnected three-song suite like the famous ones on side two of
. Bassist
Wally Allen
's vocals on tracks such as
"Sickle Clowns"
have the same throaty, mad anguish that
John Lennon
exhibited on
"Yer Blues"
"Happiness Is a Warm Gun."
is hard
rock
grandeur, then
is its more bitter twist, the dream dying and the witching hour upon us. Yet, if this isn't as much of a triumph, the creative neurons are still firing throughout a multi-varied, cohesive LP. Like
, it's a surprisingly palatable concept LP. This time the topic is a generation caught between the conflicting calls of (rural) peace, love, and boredom, and (urban) sophistication, sex, and squalor in a harsh world. Somehow the departure of the band's main creative force,
Dick Taylor
, didn't diminish the writing and inspired variety.
Allen
stepped up big time into the collaborator role with singer
Phil May
. The harmonies remain a strong point on an otherwise
-inclined record, and the nasty edge of perfectly balanced bombast in the best songs have been a lost art ever since. (There are 18 minutes of good stuff tacked on the
Snapper
edition, taken from singles.) ~ Jack Rabid