Short Reviews [The Past Tense - 2019 - "Across The Pond...And Back Again"]

So, onto the album which accompanies the vinyl EP (FdM are a vinyl label remember), and here we have another ten on CD. I did smile when I saw the first number, as I watched a very good documentary on the history of ZZ Top the other night, and first up we have one of the most well-known numbers from The Moving Sidewalks, “99th Floor”, which was written by a rather precocious Billy Gibbons when he was just 16 years old. It certainly shows how heavily influenced he was by the 13th Floor Elevators, and what I like about this version is how the guys haven’t tried to sanitise it but instead use distorted fugly bass, strong Hammond, and some powerful licks to keep that down and dirty feel. Another interesting take is their version of Love’s “7 And & Is”, where they show they know how to garage and punk with the best of them. Looking at their Facebook page they play live a great deal, or at least they did, and have to be worth checking out. They are based in Worcester Park and I know that this is exactly the sort of band I used to follow around when I lived in Surrey as they are a guaranteed good night out. As I said in the EP review, this set is no longer available from the label, but is something any lover of great psychedelic rock really needs to track down.