The United States Of America

Avant-Garde Sonic Ammo ca.1968! Mono version, clear vinyl. Sundazed brings you the reissue of the self-titled album from The United States Of America. U.S.A., led by respected modern classical avant garde musician Joseph Byrd, cut a wide swath through the 1968 world of rock, just then comfortably settling in to its backwoods dreams of country-rock to find the debut U.S.A. album howling like an infant terrible on its front doorstep. At the centre of the U.S.A.'s fiercely experimental universe were the icy-cool vocals of the beautiful Dorothy Moskowitz, keeping this tumultuous sound from spinning out-of-control in every direction. On the band's sole, self-titled 1968 album, the group draws on Byrd's background in the avant garde and crosses proto-electronica (early synthesizers, ring modulator) with psychedelia for a sound that even today remains both strange and futuristic.

The United States Of America found the perfect way to permanently hardwire space-age electronic music to heady psychedelia on their highly desirable 1968 debut. At the center of the U.S.A.ﾒs fiercely experimental universe were Joseph Byrdﾒs kaleidoscopic musical excursions and Gordon Marronﾒs searing violin, each orbiting around the icy-cool vocals of Dorothy Moskowitz, keeping this tumultuous sound from spinning out of control in every direction. Almost predictably, the U.S.A. disbanded before recording a second album, but the brilliant, self-titled effort was certainly one for the ages.

"Portishead and Broadcast love this record. The Fall used ﾑComing Downﾒ on their last LP. Made in 1968, this is hewn from the same lysergic, ur-electronic seam as Silver Apples and White Noise, with a Zappa-like satire and lashings of Love nastiness. Songs veer from psych rock to sunshine exotica, tape cut-ups and ring modulators filling in the gaps. Dorothy Moskowitz sinisterly narrates on sadomasochism and how square the squares are."ﾗMojo

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