God bless Rudi Protrudi and God bless The Fuzztones and all who have sailed the turbulent Rock and Roll seas aboard this curious vessel.

Early 90’s ‘Tones sees Rudi with a new crew on board yet they obviously kept their trademark organ swirl and shimmering guitar aplenty and those B movie vocals dripping with echo. This the band’s 3rd album hasn’t been in print and available for some time so it’s always a joy when a label like Easy Action steps up and gives people a second chance to get their mitts on a copy with the added bonus of a 7″ single to boot.

The covers of some of the most influential psychedelic bands like  LOVE and THE DOORS are here alongside original Rudi Protrudi tracks such as the live favorites ‘Romilar D’ (named after some cough medicine a theme here maybe considering the band also dabbled with snake oil), ‘Rise’ and ‘Skeleton Farm’.  Jordan Tarlow, (Lead Guitar) John “Speediejohn” Carlucci, (Bass) Jason Savall, (Vox Organ) & “Mad” Mike Czekaj did a fantastic job of just slotting right in with Rudi’s Fuzztones sound and vibe and the transition from East to West coast was seamless for Rudi.

The band gained a decent fanbase here in the UK as a result of the tour they did supporting The Damned during their most commercially successful ‘Phantasmagoria’ period,  Which was where I first got reeled in by The Fuzztones at a show in Cardiff on that tour. The band were “cool as” and their messed up Rock and Roll was mysterious and the real deal for this young scribe and a fantastic introduction to the B movie, horror psychedelic Rock and Roll that Rudi has stayed true to all his career and the genre they labelled psych garage or whatever retro nametag they hang the likes of the Fuzztones off of these days.

Possibly the bands most commercial record ‘Braindrops’ was a stab at the mainstream whilst kinda keeping it real. The possible including of the three covers was a cry for attention from Rudi using the Love and The Doors as well as the ever-catchy ‘The People In Me’ Music Machine cover might be a stretch on reflection but considering its not a ten track album Rudi might have got away with it besides he’s only ever danced to his own tune (figuratively of course) and ‘Braindrops’ which has now been expanded to a bumper seventeen tracks when you include the three that feature on the 7″ single, this is certainly a splatter reissue you simply must-own.

Be mindful that there are only 700 of these so don’t snooze. I did chuckle when I read that Rudi is alleged to have called this record the bands Sgt Pepper! so I’ll have some of whatever he’s on (not that I’m a massive fan of The Beatles) but whichever way you look at this album you should check it out. If you’re new to The Fuzztones then remember this – The Fuzztones don’t do bad records never have and never will so what are you waiting for?  2018 hasn’t really been a bad year for reissues and this is most certainly at the top of the pile.  Go get it, folks, before they’re all gone.

Buy Braindrops Here

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Author: Dom Daley