The Seeing Eye Gods: Self-Titled EP (1985)

Shout-out to all the Seeing Eye Gods fanatics out there!  Woo-hoo to all you SEG-Heads!

Ok, fine, nobody has heard this fucking record.  Which is a damn shame.

I remember the vinyl EP showing up at the radio station during my college DJ days, a headache-inducing green & pink paisley-patterned picture disc inside a gaudy purple and blue sleeve.  Very little info, the songs attributed to recurring Kurt Vonnegut character Billy Pilgrim (with help from Ripped Van Winkle).  And it was pretty damn awesome -- retro psychedelic music, jangly guitars and nice vocals over a primitive drum machine, like a lo-fi imitation of Paisley Underground 60s-styled psyche rockers the Rain Parade or the Things.  Only 5 songs -- 4 originals and a cover of Status Quo's timeless "Pictures of Matchstick Men" -- but all pretty solid.  "The Only One" and "Psychedelic Suzy" were delightfully trippy and melodic ("Strawberry Girl" a bit less so); the Quo cover was respectably workmanlike; and closing "Happy" was a downbeat, jangly ballad that calls to mind some of Guided by Voices' Tobin Sprout-fronted mellower moments.

We later figured out it was a side project from Brett Gurewitz, guitarist for long-running punk band Bad Religion.  Alas, it was never released on CD, it doesn't stream, and all I have are some rips from an old cassette I'd made at the time.  But I'm still hoping against hope that this will one day see the light of day again.  It's hardly an essential part of my collection, but for fans of the Rain Parade and the Nuggets collections, it's a nice little novelty that merits a listen.

All 5 tracks can be found on YouTube; here are the vinyl rips for your listening pleasure.

Track 1: The Only One
Track 2: Psychedelic Suzy
Track 3: Pictures of Matchstick Men
 Track 4: Strawberry Girl
Track 5: Happy

Comments

  1. I bought this in high school (about when it was released) when I didn't even own a turntable. I have always enjoyed psychedelic rock, both vintage and the new bands at the time, like The Three O'Clock and some of what Camper van Beethoven was doing. I had no idea at the time about the connection to Bad Religion. So glad I held on to it until I finally started collecting vinyl in earnest. Stay weird!

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    1. That was a great era for psychedelic revivalism. These guys beat Camper to "Pictures of Matchstick Men" by a few years, and I think came up with the more interesting cover, though Camper's is fun as well.

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  2. I found a copy on E-Bay recently, and I'm glad to find some info on this trippy record. I was surprised to learn that (after 2 plays) that the same songs are on both sides!

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