Simply Saucer - Cyborgs Revisited

Simply Saucer is a criminally overlooked Canadian proto-punk band from the early-1970s. Their sole post-humously released recording, Cyborgs Revisited, didn't see the light of day until over a decade after their demise. The record is not really a proper album, as it is mostly made up of cuts from their brief recording session with a young Daniel Lanois (yes, that Daniel Lanois) and a recorded live show. These recordings deserve to be held in as high a regard as Modern Lovers s/t, Easter Everywhere and Funhouse and the more I listen to them I realize how much of a shame it is I stumbled upon this band long after playing those albums to death. Simply Saucer's brand of blistering garage rock is like a more ambitious 13th Floor Elevators and shifts from passages of extended metal-tinged psychedelic jamming to flashes of new-wave weirdness. Somewhere in between that lies "Bullet Proof Nothing", where the band calms down a bit for a cynical ballad of sorts. The song's sardonic lyrics and vocal delivery heavily resonates Jonathan Richman or "Who Loves the Sun?" and leaves one scratching their head about the lack of success of the band. And yes, echoing those revered icons can be said about an infinite number of bands, except Simply Saucer were doing it in the same era as a band like the Modern Lovers and never got much credit for it. Despite considerable retrospective acclaim of this album amongst a devoted underground, I still find quite a few people who are still playing their Stooges Dictators and Roky Erickson albums repeatedly and have not heard of Simply Saucer. I urge you, do not pass on this gem.