Devon band The Honey Pot plant their particular flag deep in the soil very early on in Hadron Kaleidoscope the opening track on their newly released third album Bewildered Jane. It's the freak flag for those who love this kind of Psych stuff and are versed in the same Psychedelic records of the late Sixties and Seventies that this band clearly are.
A list of artists to help you orient where they're coming from; Jefferson Airplane, Shocking Blue, Hawkwind, Amon Duul II, Procol Harum, Curved Air. Male and female vocalists who take turns at the mic,while the music churns, one long unrestrained psychedelic howl into the night. Unrelenting and deeply committed to their deranged, archaic cause.
For this is certainly a music that unavoidably summons up a picture of time gone by. The late Sixties and early Seventies, that short moment in time when for those who chose to access them the Doors of Perception were truly open and a whole host of souls rushed through them, doing all they could to maximise the opportunity of experience and many of those most deeply committed to the cause either didn't come back at all or never really came back.
The Honey Pot are highly skilled practitioners of this particular sub-genre. They've clearly listened to a lot of records from the time and I'd venture to suggest, taken a few drugs along the way. It's all served to add fuel to their particular fire, because Bewildered Jane is a mightily impressive act of time travel, completely authentic both in terms of its conviction and execution. The kind of record you might want to lay on Julian Cope's doorstep as a means of introduction.
By the time I came to the title track midway through the record I was totally sold. It casts itself as the orphaned love child of Ray Manzarek and Richie Blackmore and is pure, ludicrous Psych Pop delight. First of all, The Honey Pot are clearly having enormous fun, their recording sessions must have been a hoot, but this is no pastiche exercise. They clearly love this stuff deeply and render it immaculately and with fabulous attention to the fine detail . There are several classic hit singles from 67-73 here that you've never heard before.
Each track is strong, wedded to a tight tune and lyrical journey, all in all the record is highly impressive from start to finish. Bewildered Jane is a labour of love and it bears a rich and bountiful harvest. The best 'new' record of this type I've heard for a long, long time!
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