JUSTINE

I doubt this album would have been considered either progressive or folk when it was released in 1970, but given the nuanced tarnishes of time it seems to have become both some forty years later.

Justine were short-lived and quickly forgotten, but the band did manage to put out one really charming and intoxicating record, especially if you’re one of those kind of people who love the late sixties/early seventies West Coast pop sound (which of course had more than a little psych sprinkled in it). The more harmonic and brightly delivered parts of these songs fit that description perfectly, while at the same time the post-War influence of British folk is evident in many of the arrangements that lie embedded in between the loosely-coupled and stoned meanderings. Clearly guitarists John McBurnie and Keith Trowsdale grew up on Shirley Collins and the like, while the lovely young ladies delivering vocals seem to have taken their cues from the Mamas & the Papas, Quicksilver Messenger Service and every other band like them who surrounded themselves with paisley and patchouli until time and temperance caused them to change or fade away.

The songs run the gamut lyrically, and several are sort of montages consisting of several songs string together for no obvious reason. The opening “Flying/Love You More Than Is Good for Me To/Nostrils” is a great example, with the opening heavily psych section giving way to the Mama Cass-like pop ditty “Love You More Than is Good For Me” (even the title sounds like a Cass tune), to the closing “Nostrils” which is little more than an clearly folk- inspired instrumental snippet plucked out on an acoustic guitar. Pure 1970, but if that’s your bag you’ll love it.

I believe “She Brings the Morning with Her” was intended to be a single, and if I’m not mistaken there’s a video clip floating around somewhere, although I’ve never seen it myself. This would make sense though, as this is the most pop-oriented track on the album and is basically a sunshine-y love song of the sort that dominated the airwaves back then.

As far as “Back to Boulder”, I think Styvers might have been from Colorado since besides this song named after a town there she also has several Colorado references on her two solo albums including the second record’s title, ‘The Colorado Kid’. Anyway, this one’s about a dude who traveled for years (salesman, I believe) who finally came home only to find his house gone and his family departed. Sad in a kind of corny way, but one of the tracks on the album that earns the band a psych folk label as far as my ear is concerned. Same goes for “Traveller” (misspelled intentionally I guess), which features laid-back hippie vocals and uncredited flute/recorder as well as piano. And “See Saw” makes it a trio of hippie folk tunes just right for a lazy summer day in a park somewhere.

“Mini Splurge/Mr. Jones/Is That Good, That's Nice” is another disjointed three-part medley, but this one opens with mellow pop-folk vocal harmonies before morphing into a polyphonic sort of dirge that is either drug-driven or at least drug-inspired. Despite the nonsensical, repetitive lyrics, the guitars wail and the overall groove is consistent with most of the rest of the album (not to mention with that generation).

The real highlight is the closing “Unknown Journey”, a heavily psych and probably heavily improvised trip with plenty of haunting chanting (both male and female) as well as acid guitar and unexpected interludes of brooding silence. Nothing groundbreaking, but at the same time nobody really makes music like this anymore either. Maybe someone should.

The CD reissue closes with a couple of singles released by the band prior to the album’s recording. These are a little uneven but make for interesting closes pieces. Both are rather typical late-sixties light psych numbers.

I’m really surprised how little information exists about this band, although from surfing around some blogs and music archive sites I can see they had many acquaintances and seem to have quite a few people who remember them. A very decent record though not a masterpiece, but good enough to merit four stars in my opinion. Well recommended to both prog folk and psych fans.

peace