The Baroques – THE BAROQUES***

Iowa A Girl’s Name/Seasons/Mary Jane/Rose Coloured Glasses/Musical Tribute To The Oscar Meyer Weiner Wagon/In Silver Light/This Song Needs No Introduction/There’s Nothing Left To Do But Cry/Bicycle/Purple Day/ Boop/Love In A Circle

This self titled album was the only release from the Milwaukee garage psychedelic band The Baroques. Some critics suggest they may have fared better on another label rather than Chess, known mainly for its blues artists.

“You'll be hard pressed to find a garage psych album that's as consistent and with as much chutzpah as this one. Usually albums of this ilk are spotty with some decent originals with a bunch of covers to flesh out the rest of the record. This album has all originals of The Baroques moody, dark and a little bit dangerous songwriting. It's tough to pick any highlights as it's all of such a high standard. One of those records where there are no tracks to skip, no embarrassing missteps.”

“It is pure 60s, but it has a wonderful dark vibe to it that makes it special. No flower power. Not a bunch of stupid effects. Just really nice strange, unorthodox psych-garage. If you like The Doors or the scarier side of the 60s this is for you.”

“The songs are well constructed, well executed, and there is certainly no filler to be found here. Their lack of success was perhaps due to the fact that their wonderful album was released on the Chess label, known mainly for its blues artists, which was not a good fit for distributors who were perplexed by the psychedelic rock found on The Baroques.”

“The music on this album is not your typical garage/psych, though this is how they are usually pigeon-holed. Many of their cuts have a very dour, even gloomy sound. The psych influences are subtle, though on a few, they are much more overt. Several tracks feature electric piano and harpsichord, as well as lots of twelve string guitar, which often yields a folk flavour. There are, of course, liberal uses of fuzz guitar which figures prominently in a few freak-out style breaks in the best cuts.”

“This record will likely not bowl you over on first listen, but rather tends to grow on you as it did me. The Baroques is frequently mesmerizing and never less than enjoyable. It found the band mixing their best Brit impressions with meltdown fuzz guitars, weird time changes and what sounded like oceans of illicit stimulation. Strongly recommended as something out of the ordinary in garage/psych albums."