Underground

Editors’ Notes The Electric Prunes’ second studio offering, Underground, found the L.A. quintet with more creative freedom due to the success of "I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)" and “Get Me to the World on Time”—the two hits from their preceding debut. Getting to write nearly half the songs here didn’t yield any comparable smash singles, but it did let Underground play with the creative sophistication and cohesive flow of an album. “The Great Banana Hoax” opens with a reedy Farfisa organ replacing the band’s signature overdriven, fuzz-tone guitar leads, as James Lowe croons romantically over Joe Dooley’s seductive tribal drumming. The following “Children of Rain” deviates from teenage go-go garage rock to deliver a more mature psych ballad overflowing with folk-rock rooted harmonies akin to The Byrds. Similarly, “Antique Doll” has a spooky atmosphere of swirling guitar noise that creates a proto-shoegazing ambience as Lowe sings surreal poetry, likening his troubled muse to a creepy old doll. The band turns Goffin/King’s “I Happen to Love You” into an acid-rock serenade.