Long one of the world’s great cult treasures, POOBAH, led by its fearless fret-meister Jim Gustafson, has been brandishing its unique blend of acid, psych rock for greater than 30 years now. Hailed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as the world’s most collectible psych rock band, POOBAH’s early LP’s, like their 1972 debut, sell for upwards of $1000 if you’re one of the lucky few who can find them. Despite having performed at the above Hall of Fame a record 12 times, played private parties for the WHO and toured with the likes of ZZ TOP, JUDAS PRIEST, ALICE COOPER and the JAMES GANG, you’d still hard pressed to find a handful of people familiar with the unholy pounding metallic psych madness that is POOBAH.

So, today we’re here to change all that. (see also our fearless leader, Mr. Marchman's, 2006 discussion with the head POOBAH in the interview section)

Combinations of band lineup changes and management issues kept the boys from breaking out of the cult status since they formed in the 1970’s, but driven by the guitar obsession of Gustafson, they remained active over the years, playing thousands of shows and pounding out this molten slab of effect-laden guitar wizardry in 2005. Coming in at over 80 minutes spread across 16 songs, most clocking in at over 4 minutes, this is a throwback to the days when artists headed into the studio with a boatload of songs, effects pedals and a driving lust to push the boundaries. Oh yeah, and some funny little mushrooms.

At times thick and heavy with the edge of modern metal, (Psychic Malfunction), rooted spaced-out 12-bar blues (On the Out) or simply lost in space (Venus Patrol) Gustafson keeps the quality high, the guitars incendiary and the Morely effect pedals on full display. Gustafson hammers on like Van Halen and fuzzes through feedback like Hendrix. My fingers get blistered just listening to it all. Like a blast from a twenty-first century lava lamp, “Underground” is a dense explosion of guitar wizardry from one of rock’s great unheralded survivors. A quality recording from an enduring legend and a must for fans of heavy psych everywhere.

Everyone, everywhere, all hail the Grand Poobah.

- Severin

OFFICIAL SITE: myspace.com/poobahband

RELATED ITEMS: POOBAH - "Steamroller", 2005 reissue