Saucers & The Allies ’78-’81, The [coll] – [Rave Up Records]

This is what Berkeley always should be, tasting like Top Dog and the
bottom of the keg at the top of the morning after a long night’s
discussion. The Saucers and the Allies were incarnations in that order
where the former had Joey Michaels on *farfisa* and vox, and ultimately
the latter replaced him with Craig Magee as a lead guitarist. For me
the earlier Saucers have more going for them, the farfisa is zany in
the best possible way, and Michaels’ vocals have an angsty howl that
fit better with the lyrics. In the latter, Dave Velasquez takes over
all of the vocals, and he’s more straight ahead in his delivery, and
the guitar work grinds well but is just not as unique a raver flavor.
Both benefit from bopping bass by Shelley Wolfe and the key is Jake
Smith beating the daylights out of the drums. He drops some ska rolls
on to “Cold Act” and often best captures the anger of the times (Reagan
republicans in Sproul Plaza, frats popping up not far from People’s
Park). “Death Ray Generation” reminds me of how certain folks were that
the planet was going to be blown to bits, instead of sold off byte by
byte. Plus more Jake Smith pummelage! “Piggy’s Jukebox” name checks Don Kirshner for expiration date but still succeeds on catchiness nonetheless. Both bands offer takes on “Disposed Dictator” the kind of song that needs to be written and rocked yearly. Youthful ire is as persistent as political non/mis/malfeasance. Kids gotta call bullshit, old folks need to say thanks…and while appreciating, thanks to Terry Hammer for the crisp recordings and being KFJC’s secret santa I suspect on sending
this!