Great 2-fer of early-70s Northern California rock
hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 08/09/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Despite the biography that propagates around the Internet, this band was not the launching point of Greg Kihn's career; he was neither in the group, nor were they his backing band (other than perhaps for the odd early session for Beserkley). Assumedly they didn't really even meet up until both were signed to Beserkley, several years after Earth Quake waxed this pair of albums for A&M in 1971 ("Earth Quake") and 1972 ("Why Don't You Try Me?").
Earth Quake was born out of the fertile Berkeley high school music scene (as were another of the band's eventual Beserkley labelmates, The Rubinoos). The band's lineup, as heard on both of these albums was John Doukas, Robbie Dunbar (older brother of the Rubinoos' Tommy Dunbar), Stan Miller and Steve Nelson. They honed their late '60s/early '70s rock at countless frat parties and free concerts in Provo Park (the latter being a pivotal venue that hosted numerous free Sunday shows), bridging the divide between late '60s jams, soul/R&B and tighter radio pop. They were equally adept at kicking out 9-minute guitar rockers as they were at catchy 3-minute pop and rock.
Hooking up with Matthew "King" Kaufman as their manager, they landed a deal with A&M and recorded a debut that had been practiced hundreds of times in endless gigs. The result is incredibly tight, both in the playing and singing, but with the sort of casualness born of familiarity. The album's nine tracks, all reproduced faithfully on this CD, show off both the band's chops, and the high quality of A&M's production team. The followup LP expanded slightly on the band's sound, with guests providing keyboards and horns that add a soulful edge (ala The Rascals) to a few cuts, but guitar-rock remained at the core.
The band's later albums on Beserkley are probably better known to most fans, but these two early issues are a great look at the band's original late '60s essence and the turn from the more elastic rock on the San Francisco scene into more concise forms. [©2005 hyperbolium dot com]"
Track Listings (17) - Disc #1