Mountain Angel Band "Angel Food" 1978 US private pressing of a rare Rural Xian Psych Rock.
Some fine moments on this four-man outfit’s rural rock record. The dreadful country twang of the opening ‘Hear The Light’ scores high, as does the cowpoke ‘Amen Again’ with its plunking banjo and quirky wah-wah guitar. Songs like the excellent ‘Suffering Servant’ and the hard rock attempt ‘No Sir’ draw comparisons to the open-aired progressive country rock of UK’s Canaan, complete with potent fuzz acid guitar leads. The closing ‘The Watchman’ also slips in a smidgeon of fuzz. The residual tunes can sometimes be a bit lacklustre, descending into the ridiculous for the novelty ‘Wiener Song’ (“I want to be a child of God, not a hotdog”). Pedal steel here and there adds to the rural element. Female backing vocalists include Diane Tong, who also supplies the banjo. Cool homemade-looking cover art of an angel reading a Bible. (The Archivist, 4th edition by Ken Scott).
