These three reissues document the venerable Nick Saloman clarifying the vision of his British psych-rock project the Bevis Frond. Nearly every album in the Frond’s complicated and lengthy (and continuing) discography offers a combination of extended heavy guitar jams, sweet folk ballads and mid-tempo psych rock, but the proportions and focus varies. 1990’s Any Gas Faster was the first album done in a professional recording studio and veers toward garage rock (notable bonus tracks: wild live performances).
1991’s New River Head is the classic, with songs like “Down In The Well” and “He’d Be A Diamond” (later covered by Mary Lou Lord) and Hendrix-like freakout “Solar Marmalade” (bonus: a second disc that skews toward experimental jams, including the 16-minute “Miskatonic Variations II”). 1992’s London Stone is very good in the way that would become boilerplate for many future Frond albums: a little of everything, consistently worthy (bonus highlight: the searing “All Hail The Child Philosopher”). New River Head is the best gateway album; the others are welcomed gifts for fans.
—Steve Klinge
