YAMA AND THE KARMA DUSTERS - Up From The Sewers

Super political, rocking, anti-establishment communal band (c. 1970) put together as a result of the Kent State Massacre. As the Euphoria Blimpworks Band, fronted by Howard Berkman from morose garage punksters the Knaves, they played demonstrations and student strikes when they werent opening for blues royalty -- or being the first band to play the yard at Cook County Jail. They were inter-racial, anti-war, Stop the Bomb, free love hippies, the wildest of the wild kids. And this is the quintessential anarcho-hippie record, a surprisingly well-engineered indie effort which came inside home-made silk-screened jackets, with twisted, poetic lyrics (Dylan or Arthur Lee and Love? you decide), and funky, rocking bones -- political, sociological, ecological, reflective and free-love sexy. The Karma Dusters really cook on the up-tempo tracks, sounding at times like a cross between The Blues Project and Dylans band circa 1966, augmented by some dazzling violin. This excellent sounding master-tape reissue has two bonus tracks; it also has two booklets -- one is for the outrageous and explicit Gonzo history of the band and their urban commune; the other is a wrap-around booklet for lyrics, all served up together in a Mylar plastic sleeve. You just know the FBI has a huge file on these punks. But do they have the album? -Lion Productions.