Pisces

In the spectrum of unknown and unknowable bands, Pisces was at the furthest reaches of obscurity before our 2009 release A Lovely Sight. Seven years later, the body of basement work created by Jim Krein, Paul DiVenti, and Linda Bruner in the industrial ghost town of Rockford, Illinois, remains a perennial favorite of Numero fans, and as importantly, still haunts us. Somewhere In Your Mind is compiled from the same grip of tapes tracked by Krein and DiVenti between 1967-1970 that made up A Lovely Sight, but this LP is hardly a collection of outtakes.

Ad-lib invention dominated every Pisces session. Abbey Road worthy recording experiments—backwards played chords recorded backwards, plugs pulled on running decks mid-sustain, the beating of a broken tambourine—occurred to Krien and DiVenti as if to kids at play. A gorgeous body of low-key pop-psychedelia was captured as the ’60s destroyed itself, inspired variously by Jefferson Airplane and Donovan’s most acidic moments. From the dark-laden dirges of “Dreamer” and “Robin” to the garage-psych of “Mindbender,” the brassy Big Brother & the Holding Company send-up “Oh Lord” to the C.A. Quintet-channeling trip through upper hell “Riding On A Cloud,” Somewhere In Your Mind makes an air-tight case for Pisces’ versatility and songwriting prowess. A real glimpse into the Numero Group’s private mind garden.

• LP

  1 140g LP
  1 tip-on single LP jacket