Orange Sunshine
Homo Erectus (CD/LP) 1969 None / Motorwolf / Leaf Hound
This band has been around for a very long time. In fact, the booklet contains an extract of an interview with Abe "Voco" Kesh (yes, the very same guy who produced Blue Cheer's early albums). Back in 1969 he had his own radio show called "Lights Out". Through the demo tapes he recieved on the show, he became familiar with two bands who stood out from the rest. Blue Cheer and Orange Sunshine. Blue Cheer was the band with the most potential and while they got signed, Orange Sunshine remained underground for a while, before fading away. While the band seems to be active nowadays, it's this old record that we'll be focusing on. Back in 1969 it was only released as a demo tape. It took 32 years until it was properly released by Motorwolf Records in 2001. Motorwolf put the music out on LP and it would take another 4 years before the CD version was released, this time by Leaf Hound Records. In addition to the two bonus tracks, the CD version also has some interesting features that aren't on the LP. The cover artwork and the inlay are made into 3D-effect images that you have to look at with 3D glasses. 500 of the CDs actually come with their own 3D glasses, which are shaped like guitars (the ones shown under the album cover). The music is mostly a kind of psychedelic rock that is surprisingly heavy for its time. It really does sound like these guys did a lot of LSD during the creation of this (honestly, they did). Actually the name of the band probably comes from a "brand" of LSD called "Orange Sunshine", which was very popular during the Vietnam War. It's as laid back and "groovy" as you'd get music back in those days. In any case, the reason that they are featured here on Doom-metal.com is that they have a few tracks that have distinct doom elements. I would even go as far as to call the track 'Catfish' a proto doom track. And what does that mean? They released their first proto doom track before Black Sabbath released their first LP. However one proto doom track can hardly be claimed to have any effect on Black Sabbaths title as the first doom metal band (or at least many people give them that title). This CD is highly interesting, especially as an historical piece of music. It's also interesting because it's not often that you come across a mixture of doom and psychedelic rock. I think this would be of interest to fans of acid-y music and stoner rock's way of making grooving heaviness. Plus, if you're lucky you get those, already mentioned, guitar-shaped 3D-glasses. Yeah, babe!	1. Hush Hush 2. Catfish 3. Magic Ship 4. Luv Me 5. Girl, You... 6. Free 7. 'Cause I'm Your Man (Bonus Track) 8. Treatin' Me Mutha' (Bonus Track 2) The bonus tracks are on the CD version only. Approx. 40 minutes
Reviewed by: Arnstein H. Pettersen