Pisces: A Lovely Sight

Label: Numero Group

One line-drive into the gap after another for the champs over at the Numero Group. Amid their unending soul, gospel and R&B excavations they uncover a true left-field odyssey-oddity that was never an album to begin with—and yet, hearing this collection of bizarrely great late-60s psychedelic-pop recordings by the Illinois group Pisces, you might find yourself wondering just how big of a hit it might’ve been, in that perfect world that exists in our imaginations. There’s a Midwestern vibe in the way that these cats never chased after the blistering freak-out, choosing instead to follow a psych-touched pop muse sometimes reminiscent of the gleeful old UK band July or little-knowns like the Beatles. And then there are the handful of songs that feature Linda Bruner on vox. Wow. She was some kinda wayward shamanic princess who may have only slipped into this realm to record these songs, before flitting back to wherever she was hatched. A Lovely Sight should be a catch-as-catch-can selection of tunes, but in true Numero form, this orgone-rich baby holds together better than most proper albums. Highly recommended! And another of the past’s many missteps corrected by this unsurpassed Chicago imprint. (M.L. Thrope)