Public Nuisance – Gotta Survive (LP)

Unreleased for over 20 years, this masterpiece of American, late-Sixties garage rock is now widely available on vinyl for the first time ever. Produced by Eirik Wangberg and overseen by Terry Melcher, the Sacramento-based Public Nuisance laid down gritty, baroque psychedlia that was too hard for the hippies and too poppy for the punks. The end result is the perfect amalgam of all that was great about the era. The album was shelved after the Manson Family murders took place at the home Melcher had leased to Roman Polanski.
The bulk of Gotta Survive was recorded in 1967-1968. A precursor group called Moss & the Rocks released a mediocre garage folk-rock 45 in 1966 but the music on this record is much more experimental and exciting – garage psych with detours into folk-rock, hard rock and sunshine pop. Listening to Gotta Survive makes me think of a band caught between the primitive garage rock era (the Seeds, Music Machine, etc.) and the heavier, hard rock sounds that emerged in 1968 (think Blue Cheer or the underrated Yesterday’s Children). Public Nuisance also had a knack for catchy melodies and pop hooks as heard on the atmospheric “Sabor Thing.” They were a versatile group whose songs have inventive arrangements and pop friendly melodies.
Gotta Survive been released in 1968 it would have ranked as one of the better psych albums of it’s day. Public Nuisance may have been one of the era’s best kept secrets (hard luck acts) but it’s good to know that people still appreciate this music 45 years on.