Demo ‘84
Don Giovanni, 2020
8/10
Probably best known for his time in Holy Modal Rounders, the multi-instrumentalist Peter Stampfel was playing with The Bottlecaps during a big chunk of the ‘80s, and here a recording he didn’t even know existed turns up after a the owner of Don Giovanni picks up someone’s personal record collection.
“Drink American” starts the album with a quirky psychedelic-folk approach that almost seems like a commercial jingle, and “Surfer Angel” follows with a definite surf-rock appeal, almost as if The Beach Boys grew up on a freak-folk diet.
Elsewhere, “Impossible Groove” recruits a firm beat with a mix of talking and singing, while “Funny The First Time” brings banjos to the old time setting. “Oh What A Night For Love”, the demo’s best, then moves quickly with a flurry of melodies amid a busy landscape of call and response and retro rock.
The last two tunes brings us the more forceful moments of “Lonely Junkie”, where a saxophone adds much to the climate, and “When It’s Springtime In Alaska (It’s Forty Below)” gallops with a pedal steel, fiddle and swift drumming in its eccentric Americana sort of way.
Recorded on a 4 track, all of these tunes were present on first album from Stampfel And The Bottle Caps, and here they are in a more primitive form as they document the mid ‘80s folk-rock scene in New York and Stampfel’s always creative mind. While I usually think of demo recordings are purely for diehard fans, Demo ‘84 would actually be a great start for anyone new to Stampfel.
Travels well with: The Schramms- Omnidirectional ; They Might Be Giants- My Murdered Remains