No, they're not European, actually - The United States of America

First things first. I would normally never condone any urging to watch MTV, but tomorrow at noon up-and-coming sketch comedy group Human Giant is taking the station over and bringing Ted Leo, Andrew WK, and Bob Odenkirk with them. Keep in mind these dudes used an Iron and Wine song to score a bit about a man in a bush costume getting peed on. Check out this clip. If you don't think it's funny, well, you probably own Dane Cook DVDs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp_wIZ1kVVg

In other news, I have contracted strep, the mumps, and/or the haunta virus. So I finally get a day off work and a chance to see Maury, and what do they show? One of those shitty clip shows with that tool from Cheaters. Zzzzzzzzz.

So what was I gonna talk about today? Ah yeah, some long-forgotten-except-by-basement-dwelling-record-nerds band called The United States of America. They were weird even by psychedelic standards, and that's saying something. Eschewing guitars for then-novel synthesizers and other electronic gadgetry, they only existed for a very short time, putting out a single record and going on a lone tour. Killer opener "The American Metaphysical Circus" (which is huge piss-take on lame crap like Sgt. Pepper's) aside, it's an astoundingly forward-looking record. What else in 1968 sounded like the creepy, raucous "Garden of Earthly Delights?" In college I used to get stoned and playing it at 45 RPM just to freak myself out.

All in all, it's pretty impressive for a bunch of UCLA students, because, as we all know class, hardly anything good ever comes out of Los Angeles. Their sole LP was a critical hit, but it failed to ignite any real public interest, and they soon disbanded, mostly going on to careers involving music teaching. Mmmmmm, sweet taste of that west coast music stardom! Seriously, fuck Southern California.


The Garden of Earthly Delights: http://www.mediafire.com/?b5xhuhyzwyv

The American Metaphysical Circus: http://www.mediafire.com/?6venyuhcdcx

Stranded in Time: http://www.mediafire.com/?bwq5e9qzs2j