Julian Cope "Psychedelic Revolution"

I had no idea who this guy was until we opened the first ever Music 4 Less store in Orlando, 1989.  The album was "My Nation Underground" and it had hit the US charts, making it a stock item.  We sold a few to British tourists and my interest was piqued.  I asked our PGD rep for a promo and liked what I heard, an alternative Brit-pop/rock sound with a unique voice in front.  I didn't have time to investigate further as our little guinea pig store/chain was growing beyond any reasonable expectations.  The next two albums, "Peggy Suicide" and "Jehovahkill," arrived a couple of years later and were brilliant, two 70-minute slabs of powerful musical and lyrical ramblings, ranging from lo-fi to blues, from dreamy pop to LSD-fueled psychedelia.  "What?  He was in a band before becoming a solo artist?"  That was my exasperated gasp when I spotted "Floored Genius-The Best of JC and The Teardrop Explodes" in a Tuesday delivery to the store.  "How the hell did I miss them?"  That was when the investigating started.  Found the band existed for only two records during the early 80's, a time for me between leaving college and entering the music retail biz.  "Genius" was fitting terminology, especially for those who enjoyed "wacky tobaccy" and/or various hallucinogenics. 

The following solo Cope effort in '94 was a major disappointment, so I never gave any subsequent releases much attention.  I can honestly say I haven't heard anything by him in at least fifteen years.  When I saw "Psychedelic Revolution" on a New Releases page back in April, I just had to see what it was.  Sure enough, new music.  Two "phases," he calls them, one about Che Guevera and the other about Leila Khaled.  That's right, revolutionary political figures.  So guess what the tone of the work is?  If you don't talk politics with friends, this isn't for you.  If you don't like passionate, dramatically visual songs that feature death/suicide/Grim Reaper in some lyrics, don't bother.  However, if you love an expressive voice, one who sounds like Jim Morrison here, Francis Dunnery there, even Ringo Starr in another, you will love Cope's "mad bastard, bass playing, pagan space warrior" compositions. 

I only kept the final one of the Guevera-inspired tunes, "Hooded & Benign."  It is simply a nine-minute masterpiece.  If you only have $1 to spend, get it.  There is the Mike Scott/Waterboys-sounding opening track and another called "As The Beer Flows Over Me" that should become a staple of future Irish wakes.  The Kahled "phase" is far less pissy and much more restrained.  There is precious little of this record to be found on the web, so here is a link to one of the finer tunes about the "poster girl of Palestinian militancy."  Man, that is so English 80's in sound.  Twenty of the thirty minutes of music about Kahled is absolutely outstanding, enough so that I will buy the companion release that is set for later this year. 

"Psychedelic Revolution" has been available in the States for ten days now via digital download only.  I cannot say that I've ever written about such a widely known artist with a record that is flying this far below the international radar.  Do yourself a favor and start your own investigation.