Lord High Fixers

The Lord High Fixers mix blues with Texas-styled garage punk — the sort with its roots in the 13th Floor Elevators — and embrace a MC5/Stooges proclivity for free jazz slicing and dicing. They’ve used it to forge a sort of anarcho-libertarian manifesto that’s equal parts Abbie Hoffman and Monty Python. And that’s a bit surprising coming from Estrus, where they seldom get more political than Sunday beer sales and street legal slicks. In amongst the filthy and primal rock we get treats like “Scatman Revolution,” a sonic collage that features audio verité clips from Quadrophenia, Alan Ginsberg, Gil Scott Heron, Pharoah Sanders and Jack Kerouac. “Mr. Eldridge Cleaver” features the black radical and a storm of feedback while “Slow Boat To China” features a Beefheart/Waits sonic wobble and also echoes Elmore James’ “One Way Out.” The several covers include Alice Cooper’s “18,” the Seeds’ “Just Let Go” and jazz organist Jimmy McGriff’s “Last Minute.” Things get a bit scattershot near the end and the focus is lost slightly, but it’s still an amazing CD.