Not to be confused with the Beefeaters who released a solitary single (“Please Let Me Love You/Don’t Be Long”) for the Elektra label in 1964 before switching their name to the Byrds and winging to the top of the charts, these guys came from Dallas, Texas. But like the Los Angeles, California-based band of the same handle, they too issued only one disc.
Swimming in a stormy sea of flaming fuzztone guitars and slamming rhythms, “Don’t Hurt Me” (NK Records) is a class act garage rocker. By mixing the loose and wild approach of the Thirteenth Floor Elevators with sprinklings of Music Machine minded angst, a lethal cocktail of everything cool about the idiom is yours for the taking. Navigated by urgent vocals and a convincing sense of yearning, “Don’t Hurt Me” communicates the pain and anxiety of young love with right on results.
The flipside of the single, “Change My Mind” appropriates a full-on folk pop sound. Reams of ringing Rickenbacker guitars collide splendidly with breathy harmonies and neat melodies. Echoes of the aforementioned Byrds run deep throughout this nifty song, so in that case I suppose a connection between the two bands does somewhat exist. Smartly arranged and performed with ongoing enthusiasm, “Change My Mind” is a gem of its genre.
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