Staff pick of the week...
This week...Jared picks it!

Artist: The 13th Floor Elevators Title: The Psychedelic Sounds Of... Price: $11.50	Tracks on this CD:
	You're Gonna Miss Me
	Roller Coaster
	Splash 1
	Reverberation (Doubt)
	Don't Fall Down
	Fire Engine
	Thru the Rhythm
	You Don't Know (How Young You Are)
	Kindom of Heaven
	Monkey Island
	Tried to Hide

For a long time I've considered Roky Erickson to be perhaps the most underrated third in the holy trinity of insane rockers (Brian Wilson and Syd Barrett being the father and son to Erickson's holy ghost). Of course, it's no accident that all 3 were legendary for their use (and abuse) of various chemical substances, but Roky's psychosis seems to carry more deeply into his music and lyrics.

His voice is like nothing else in rock, alternating between soulful lows and wailing highs at a moments notice. Being a metal-head at heart, the only comparison I can make is that Roky's vocal style reminds me a lot of King Diamond's (sorry...)

The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators is the first proper Elevators album, and as such is more raw and a lot more anarchic than later efforts like Easter Everywhere. Tracks like "Roller Coaster" and "Reverberation" are pure psychedelic madness, while "Fire Engine"'s vocalized sound effects become a haunting banshee howl that is more Halloween than siren...

Some argue that Psychedelic Sounds is the first true psych record. It's 1966 release would definitely put it at the forefront of the psych "movement." It's unfortunate that their tenure was relatively short-lived. Roky recorded later material that never approached the psych goodness of the Elevators LPs even as his lyrics descended further into the realm of monsters and aliens (2 of my personal favorite music subjects).