A Giant Crab Comes Forth - Giant Crab

A Giant Crab Comes Forth

Giant Crab

UNI 73037

1968

When I was in college I thought I knew everything I needed to know about 1960s rock after I read a bunch of rock encyclopedias and histories of the era.  How many good records could have come out in the decade?  I figured I could get them all.  I was wrong.  40 years later and I am still working on it.  By the time I was in my thirties I assumed I had all the essential classics but then the internet came along and I found out there were a lot more worthwhile records out there that I had never heard of.  The Santa Barbara based band Giant Crab was not in any of the books I read as a youth.  I first heard them on a specialty program on my favorite college radio station KXLU.  I loved the song I heard and checked out the band on the internet.  Eventually I was able to find their two albums.  This is their excellent debut album.  It begins with a spoken intro by Johnny Fairchild who was a Santa Barbara disc jockey who helped the band get on the radio.  It simulates a dramatic news flash although its impact is diminished by an attempt to work all the song titles from the album into the intro which makes it sound contrived.  Most of the album was written by the band's talented leader Ernie Orosco with occasional help from his band mate and brother Ruben (or maybe his other brother Raymond - it is not clear on the song credits) as well as the album's producer Bill Holmes.  Most of the songs are catchy sunshine pop like "It Started with a Little Kiss," "Groovy Towne," "Thru the Fields," "Believe It or Not" and "The Answer is No."  These songs feature charming vocal harmonies and elaborate arrangements often bolstered by punchy horn support from band members Dennis and Kenny Fricia.  "Directions," "Intensify Your Soul" and "The Chance You Take" are harder in sound with a soulful flavor and heavier instrumentation.  They remind me of the Rascals.  "Watch Your Step" is pop-psych with hypnotic keyboard riffs driving it.  "Hot Line Conversation" is also pop-psych and the heaviest song on the album.  Its lumbering riff and organ washes make me think of early Iron Butterfly.  The album closer is a slow and majestic ballad called "Why Am I So Proud?" that gives the record an emotional finish.  There are also four covers on the album.  "Enjoy It" was written by Scott English and Claus Ogerman and it plays to the bands' sunshine pop strengths.  English also wrote "Hi Ho Silver Lining" with Larry Weiss and it was a British hit for Jeff Beck and I think it should have been one here as well.  The cover version doesn't stray too far from the Beck version.  The Beck version is more energetic and I miss his guitar solo but since singing was hardly Beck's strength, I welcome Ernie Orosco taking a crack at the song.  Both versions are worthwhile.  "I Enjoy Being the Boy" was written by Marc Bellack and bubblegum stalwart Joey Levine.  It is less inane than a lot of Levine's stuff and features a lovely arrangement that makes it seem less lightweight than the lyrics would suggest.  My favorite of the covers and my favorite track overall is "Lydia Purple" by Don Dunn and Tony McCashen.  It appeared on the debut album by the Collectors earlier in the year.  Giant Crab's version is heavier and more propulsive which I appreciate but I think the song's moodiness and portrayal of alienation was better served by the Collectors' chamber pop arrangement.  I still love the Giant Crab version though.  This is such a good album that I'm surprised it is not better known.  It deserved a better fate.  I was already middle-aged when I finally got a copy which I regret.  I would have eaten this up back when I was a teenager worshipping the Turtles and the Hollies.  Even in my dotage it still is immensely appealing to me.  It is records like this that humble me and keep me from getting too cocky about my knowledge of rock history.  If you dig pop-psych or sunshine pop this album is essential.  I've played it a bunch of times in recent years and it still makes me happy whenever I give it a spin.  Recommended to fans of the Strawberry Alarm Clock.