Tully - S/T LP
First ever reissue of 1970 debut album by famed Sydney prog-psych giants Tully. Formed in late 1968, by early '69 Tully had become easily the most hyped band in Australia, feverishly acclaimed for their towering rock dynamics and extended flights of jazz-inspired improvisation. At first they were a kind of idiosyncratic cover band, playing 25 minute versions of Beatles hits (their unreleased version of Yesterday is included here as a bonus track), or their own take on Albert Ayler's free jazz classic The Bells. But they soon expanded into their own material, and were adopted as the ultimate consciousness-expanding experience in late 60s Australia. Excitable Go-Set journalist Adrian Rawlins called them "the greatest musicians in the western world." Their debut album is one of Australia's most forward-thinking and ambitious of the era. Opening track You Realize You Realize bursts through the speakers with all the fabled power and exuberance of the band’s live shows, while La Nave Bleu follows with delicacy and restraint. A full church choir uplifts Love's White Dove, while Phsssst is five minutes of submerged organ drones, chanting and studio games. The album made it to number 6 in the national charts, but within months of its release, Tully had changed into something almost unrecognisable from their original form. They merged with folk-psych sirens Extradition, lost singer Terry Wilson and drummer Taylor, and decided to continue on drummer-less. Their subsequent records were serene, solemn and impossibly beautiful, but without the incendiary power of their first incarnation, audiences deserted them in droves. By the end of 1971, Tully were no more. Reissued for the first time in 44 years, Tully documents a moment when anything seemed possible, and the band made music that perfectly summed up this sense of wonder and infinite potential.