Michael Draine's Twisted Vista
The Neighborhood Children
Long Years in Space
(Sundazed)
Fame may have bypassed the Neighborhood
Children in their 1967/68 heyday, but the
Oregon quintet’s only album captures the
heady flower power aura and consummate
musicianship of a premier folk/psych band.
Chiming rhythm guitar and mangled modal
leads invoke the Byrds, while the anthemic
“Changes Brought To Me” could pass for a
Jefferson Airplane outtake, minus that
band’s coke-fueled revolutionary fervor.
As much the heart of the Neighborhood
Children as Grace Slick was to the
Airplane, Dyan Hoffman’s heartfelt vocals		Music Review Index
and Farfisa arabesques set the Neighborhood
Children apart from the horde of garage
slammers and Mothers-inspired noodlers. A
dozen bonus tracks include a drone-drenched		Twisted Cinema
raga-rock remake of “Can’t Buy Me Love,” a
dirgelike “Louie Louie,” and a contractually-
obligated cover of “Over the Rainbow.” Also
available as a double LP, Long Years in
Space’s ice-clear sound is typical of
Sundazed’s uncompromising sonic standards.
Published in Vendetta #12, Spring 1999
www.sundazed.com