One more quick hit/impulse buy before I move onto the next series. I’m almost positive I came across the psychedelic stylings of Sweet Slag from Smokin’ Joe and the HiFi Dream Machine, the weekly radio show hosted by Joe Macchia (who also happens to manage my local record shop Needle + Groove). Damned if I can recall now what track it was, but at some point I tracked down Tracking With Close-Ups, the UK band’s one and only release. Equal doses of psychedelia, garage, progressive and soul groove, it’s a rock record that goes places. Too many of these one-record wonders get lost in the shuffle of the more mainstream, “classic” rock of the period, so it’s always fun to sit back and listen to what else was coming out at the time. Good stuff here, so let’s dig into it.

Continue reading “Sweet Slag: Tracking With Close-Ups (1971)”