THE LITTER — Emerge (review)

Album · 1969 · Proto-Metal

3.5/5 · 2015-07-10
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The Litter's final album of their original career span, "Emerge", featured two new members: Mark Gallagher on vocals and Ray Melina on lead guitar. Whether it was the change in members or the change in musical styles at the end of the sixties - or both - The Litter's garage rock sound became intensified and brought them closer to the aggressive sound of MC5 and proto-punk. The first two tracks, "Journeys" and "Feeling" are short but powerful tunes, over-brimming with energy. Word is there was a loudness contest between Blue Cheer and The Litter round this time and The Litter won.

The third track, "Silly People" does begin laid back like a lounge blues numbers but you can bet that the middle of the song explodes into another powerhouse rock segment.

If anyone ever tried to intensify "Born to Be Wild" then The Litter did it with "Blue Ice". The opening riff does resemble the classic Steppenwolf song but more urgent and determined. The rest of the track features hurried suspense for the verses and chugging metal riff guitars for the chorus buildup. This is my pick for best proto-metal song not only of the album but out of The Litter's entire sixties catalogue. Listen to this one first!

Things get mellow with a very laid back beginning to "For What It's Worth" but watch that punk rock switch for the chorus. It's a classic move when a punk band does a cover with a slow intro and then jumps into high gear abruptly. The Litter, however, stick the slow acoustic verses and barreling electric choruses.

"Little Red Book" is a cover of a tune penned by Barry Manilow and I first heard Episode Six cover it with Ian Gillan on vocals (and Roger Glover on bass). This is another loud, distortion-cranked number that once again places The Litter somewhere between proto-metal and proto-punk. Another intense guitar rocker. I originally got this from iTunes until I decided to just buy the CD.

We at last slow down for real this time for "Breakfast at Gardenson's". The drumming is still active and the tempo by no means sluggish, but this song focuses more on melody and features acoustic rhythm guitar throughout and electric lead. It reminds me of a possible early version of Uriah Heep mixed with Iron Butterfly. A decent track but not long.

"Future of the Past" is the closing track of the original album and at over 12 minutes you wonder what this band of short intense rockers is planning to do to fill the time. There's the not surprising burst of heavy electric rock for the intro but then we ease back to a melancholic political observation in typical late-sixties heavy psychedelic fashion. The loud heavy theme is built into the song though, and it returns between the choruses. It certainly sounds like the band is going to try to carry this long number through. The song then seems to become really mellow and almost daze-inducing, but from one beat to the next it suddenly explodes like a locomotive charging downhill with no breaks. Fast, loud, raucous, and damn intense again, the band are hell bent for showcasing their penchant toward this new approach to rocking out.

And then, unfortunately I will say, the song turns into a five-minute drum solo. Drum solos, good though they may be (and this one is), seem to crop up on nearly every heavy electric guitar album between 1969 and 1974. Well, at least almost every band had to do it once (Cactus did it twice but they had Carmine Appice so I guess the temptation is understandable). The drum solo starts around 7:20 and takes us right to the end where the band join in for a concluding blast of chords. I would have preferred a shorter drum solo and more music at the end. It's the only disappointment so far.

The reissue includes a bonus track "On Our Minds". This is more of a fun proto-punk number with Gallagher's vocals soaring into a funky stratosphere. It definitely sounds like a bonus track as it doesn't fit in with the sound of the rest of the album.

This album really stands out among other 1969 releases. Partly MC5, partly The Stooges, partly something else, the adjectives that continue to come to mind are loud and intense. Mark Gallagher's vocals - soulful but with an edge - add an extra dimension to the sound of the band and the intensified guitars and aggressive drumming pack punch after punch. If you only check out one album by The Litter, this is my recommendation. It makes Iron Butterfly look like butterflies and Grand Funk Railroad look sophisticated. If sixties garage rock is a prototype of seventies punk then this album provides a firm stepping stone. It also turns psychedelic rock into something that Sir Lord Baltimore could grab onto.