Raw and Alive

Raw and Alive

While Raw and Live indeed feels the way it should, given the title, the album was actually recorded in 1968 by garage band pioneers The Seeds live in a studio, not in a venue with screaming fans. (Those almost-random swells of crowd noise were added later.) However, the band clearly worked some magic during the sessions, and Sky Saxon’s feral snarl on “Gypsy Plays His Drums” and the steaming, runaway organ of “Escape” take on a different thrill knowing they were done in one take, live to tape. The slow and steady anticipation of “Up in Her Room” is so palpable, it feels like it fed off a club full of hormonal young people hoping not to go home alone. The excitement in the pulsating “Pushin’ Too Hard” feels utterly authentic—the keyboard riffs are gorgeous—and tunes like “Night Time Girl” and “900 Million People…” are reminders of The Seeds’ influence; contemporary bands like Clinic have clearly done their homework.

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