|   Though Lettuce Prey has been writing and recording songs since the early 90’s, Atlatl is his first not-dubbed-for-a-few-friends full-length release. This is due to a number of things, but his involvement in what would seem to be hundreds of bands in the Philadelphia area (most notably the Lilys and Caterpillar) might be the primary reason. Just prior to his departure to the considerably less musically inclined state of Montana, Lt. Prey dropped a rough master of what would become Atlatl in our laps. On Atlatl, you can hear Prey combining, reshaping, and generally mushing together a fairly disparate set of influences. Yeah, this record at times recalls the psychedelic pop of the 60's. But instead of the polished vocal group sound of the early 60's that seems to be the norm these days, Prey hearkens back to the earthier and perhaps more immediate sounds of acid folk and blues-based psychedelic rock. But this isn't simply a retro record, what with its nods to punk, the home-taping scene of the early 90's, and other facets of musical modernity (i.e., the casiotone rhythms of "White Suits" and "My Wife, My Dog"). Basically what we're dealing with here is a guy who knows and references a wide swath of what might fall under the rubric of "rock and roll." And while these things are always subjective, to say that there are hints of and references to the likes of Roky Erickson, Arthur Lee, Can, and Cream (!) wouldn't be too far off the mark, though you'll probably have your own radically different comparisons by album's end. Edition of 300 copies. Chipboard covers silkscreened with a Sufi-inspired design. Block printed titles in blue paint. |
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