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The Underworld


The Underworld - Bound b/w Go Away - 7

Bound b/w Go Away - 7"
Regency - 1968


Michael Panontin
Toronto's Underworld were a garage band managed by Jed MacKay (of It's All Meat) along with fellow Meatster Rick McKim. McKim's father was rather conveniently positioned as an executive at Phonodisc Canada and ultimately helped secure a recording deal for the band, with these Regency sides being their only wax output.

The b-side is clearly the better of the two tracks here and the one that collectors salivate over. A somewhat tame piece of mid-sixties garage rock released in 1968 though sounding more like 1965, 'Go Away' starts off as a frenetic r'n'b workout, with vocalist Ken Ketter, aka 'Mondo', affecting an acerbic scowl circa the early Them. The totally unfettered psych guitar solo a minute in by Jim 'Spanish' Carmichael is what places this disc closer to '68; otherwise, it hardly warrants the excitement amongst the vinyl pinheads. The topside is a more sedate affair replete with the requisite Jaggeresque posturing of the day.

Listening to their superior unreleased demos, like the freaked-out acid guitars of 'The Strange Experiment of Dr. Jarrod' or the punkier 'Love 22', it is clear that this 7" was more an attempt at cracking the CHUM-AM hit machine than at truly reflecting the band's no doubt deserved reputation on the local club circuit. 'Go Away' can be found on the 1983 comp Nightmares from the Underworld, while drummer Gil Moore ended up bashing skins for those seventies burnouts Triumph.
         



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