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Artist
Thee Hypnotics
12+ albums
Garage RockPsychedelic Rockhard rockindieStoner Rock
about
Assembling a host of 1967 psychedelic fuzz-guitar stars — Blue Cheer, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, etc. — as primary influences, adding a bit of Pretty Things/Rolling Stones ambience and jamming on a frenzied Stooges/MC5 drive, this quartet from High Wycombe, a town northwest of London, handily re-created the pre-Zeppelin era with more flair than most. Singer James Jones knows all the right moves, as does guitarist Ray Hanson, who pulls off the neat trick of overdubbing several different specific styles in a single song. Thee Hypnotics became a favorite of the fickle British music press with its first single, 1989's "Justice in Freedom," a stunning debut that, in both politics and volume, echoed the MC5, and by length (nearly nine minutes) hearkened back to the very early days of English metal. The quartet — which also included drummer Mark Thompson and bassist Will Pepper — followed that with the solid "Soul Trader," then released the five-song Live'r Than God! in-concert EP, complete with an even longer version of "Justice in Freedom." Like most young bands with vigorous live reputations — and especially a group with a penchant for extended compositions — Thee Hypnotics' live sound doesn't translate well, nor is the recording quality particularly good. It might not have mattered, had not Live'r Than God! become half of the band's first US issue, a live/studio summary of work to date. The four live tracks and four single sides make for a swirling carpet ride of electrifying nostal
