Priests

Rochester, NY’s garage-rock Priests seem to be under the impression they still have a shot at a spot on a future Nuggets compilation. Whatever the case, the quartet’s front-man, Matt Allyn, genuinely sounds as though he’s been dually possessed by the un-dead spirits of Seeds front-man Sky Saxon and the Litter’s Denny Waite. There’s no telling how long the band worked on getting the fuzzed-out distorted guitar sound here, or that of the ’60s organ that leads off just about every tune in classically simplistic one-finger playing style, but, with the help of producer Tim Kerr, they’ve nailed it all with museum-quality aplomb. Hopefully, the band had at least as much fun making this album as freak-beat enthusiasts who shy away from progressive tendencies will have listening to it. While some bands take their cues from the ’60s and attempt their own fresh thing, others merely tweak the arrangements, change the words and put their talents towards the musical equivalent of Civil War re-enactments. Welcome to Gettysburg.