It’s a nice touch that shows that these guys have more to them than meets the eye. “Strawberry Man” hits with the in your face croons of “Charlie don know” and keeps a sunny psych disposition until it turns into an all-out guitar warped fuzz war. “Magical Music Box” comes galloping out of the gate with steady strums, thumping beats, and in epic fashion the baroque keys that the time period was known for.
With new art work and re-mastered from the two -track analog masters by Ron McMaster (The bands drummer) Gotta Survive gives the listener a schizophrenic psych experience that’s not usually heard from artists of this time period. The good people at Third Man Records present the new re-release that is Public Nuisance Gotta Survive. It’s only just seen the light of day in 2002 as put out by Frantic Records and has long since been out-of-print until now. In this aftermath Melcher’s projects including Gotta Survive were shelved. It finally, sadly, culminates in the 1969 Tate murders, Manson instructed Manson family members to go to “that house where Melcher used to live” and “totally destroy everyone in it” one of the members being Roman Polanski’s wife Sharon Tate.
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In an unexpected twist by way of Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson, and the “music career” of Charles Manson – yes that Charles Manson, some sort of connection is established to Melcher. It all takes a big turn when the album goes into production under Eirik Wangberg, and the project is overseen by Terry Melcher. It all begins in the late 60’s in sunny Sacramento, California with Public Nuisance laying down the tracks. In addition to the fantastic raucous sounds the band created, the lyrical content was also above average, tapping into issues of the war on tracks like “Strawberry Man” and including superb love songs like “7 Or 10.” Public Nuisance is garage rock at its best, edgy punk with a flair of psychedelia, everything that garage rock should be and more. It’s a true shame as the group of young boys from Sacramento display incredible promise on this fantastic release. It’s quite ironic that the title of this forgotten double CD material that never saw the light of day is Gotta Survive, in part because of the circumstances in which it was buried after producer and label owner Terry Melcher went into hiding after he was rumored to be on Charles Manson’s hit list (which in turn caused the break up of the band). A cool version of "I'm Only Sleeping" plainly confirms they were Beatlesque to a certain degree. Public Nuisance smartly streamlined their songs so they would be accessible and it's safe to say they weren't afraid to sprinkle their fare with tasty pop elements. Trippy psychedelic flourishes surely characterize a lot of the tunes, but we're not talking about ten-hour, hippy-dippy, jam sessions. I think there is something in here for everyone,each tracks proves to be a cut above average, but "Small Faces," "America," "Katie Shiner," "Love Is A Feeling," "Time Can't Wait," "Strawberry Man",well as the title track are particularly memorable. The production is crystal clear and absolutely piercing, prompting you to wonder if these songs really were recorded in the sixties! Fresh and exciting,''Gotta Survive'' is a sweet piece of garage rock history. Clusters of inventive arrangements propel the band's efforts, heightened by unusual yet utterly catchy melodies and stirring harmony exercises. The tunes on "Gotta Survive" are unbelievably powerful, cast of tough as nails musicianship that is amazingly advanced for its years. In the aftermath, all of Melcher’s projects at the time were shelved and “Gotta Survive” suffered that unfortunate fate.”
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The album was shelved after the Manson Family murders took place at the home Melcher had leased to Roman Polanski. The end result is the perfect amalgam of all that was great about the era. The album has an interesting history with Third Man stating, “Produced by Terry Melcher, the Sacramento-based Public Nuisance laid down gritty, baroque psychedlia that was too hard for the hippies and too poppy for the punks.
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*** Reviewed by great fellow Adamus67 ***