The conceit behind this album is that it represents a compilation of the purveyors of the 'Mystic River Sound,' a mythical sub-genre of psychedelia much like the San Francisco Sound or the Canterbury scene. But whereas those examples were defined by both time and place, the Mystic River Sound is supposed to be a subtle current running through all the underground rock of the last thirty-five years. Thus, the album's fictional bands include not only those from the classic acid-rock era of the late Sixties, but also Madchester group The Red Baise and the garage punk of North End Molasses Disaster. On one hand, the album is a failure, for although it is always possible to hear the genre Abunai! claim for the origin of each song, you're never in any doubt that it is all the work of a single band. However, they've so admirably succeeded in creating a masterpiece of neo-psych that such a criticism seems churlish. The standout tracks are those on which the band adhere most closely to their own style (as exemplified by their previous album, 'Universal Mind Decoder'), which might be described as Hawkwind jamming with Country Joe & the Fish on the songs of Fairport Convention. Meanwhile, the compilation concept is best realised in the sleeve-notes, which gently parody the tone of those found in so many collectors' releases and understand the importance of a 'scene' to the mythology of rock music, something which has sadly declined in the age of global communication.
