Pete Brown & Piblokto! ● Things May Come and Things May Go, But the Art School Dance Goes on Forever

The good: Pete Brown co-wrote the lyrics to a handful of hits for Cream, including “I Feel Free” “Sunshine of Your Love” and “White Room.” The bad: He decided to call his band Piblokto! (exclamation point included). The ugly: The group’s first record was titled Things May Come and Things May Go, But the Art School Dance Goes on Forever. First released in 1970 on Harvest Records, Pete Brown and Piblokto!’s debut album features an unusual mix of progressive psychedelia and jazz-oriented hard rock. Brown got his start as a poet (check out his unusual lyrical prowess on “High Flying Electric Bird”), but a vocalist the man is not. Fortunately, there are plenty of impressive instrumental passages that help overshadow Brown’s off-key warbling. Both the title track and “Walk for Charity, Run for Money” are hard-charging, guitar-driven rockers, while “Someone Like You” and “Golden Country Kingdom” reveal a more reflective, acoustic-based sound. Things May Come and Things May Go, But the Art School Dance Goes on Forever is probably not for everyone—Brown’s voice is an acquired taste at best—but it’s a decent representation of the underground rock movement as it existed at the turn of the decade. Incidentally, the 2009 Repertoire reissue includes an interview with Brown, in which he explains the strange band name: “… an Eskimo word, it referred to an itching ailment best relieved by exposure to the Arctic cold.” Good to know.

Notes: There is a MySpace page devoted to Pete Brown and Piblokto! Visit http://www.myspace.com/petebrownpiblokto7071 to hear tracks from both the band’s debut and its follow up, Thousands on a Raft. Recommended: “Aeroplane Head Woman.”