Rain

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 Amazon

 Lala

Listening to it now, Rain’s neglected sole album was just chiming with its musical times. Recorded in 1971, but straddling the decade just past, the Philadelphian quartet’s free-flowing mood swings charted a gentle path—often within the same song—from the sun-kissed psych-pop harmonies of the mid-‘60s to early dalliances with the dark forces of progressive rock. The songs flawlessly fuse together co-songwriter Cobb Bussinger’s jazzy, oscillating keyboards with Mike Kennedy’s immovable electric guitar solos. Anyone searching for touchstones can hear snippets of Procol Harum, King Crimson and the Zombies (oh yeah, the Beatles feature too) throughout these liquid arrangements. Yet Rain are clearly masters over their own domain whether it’s pure pop confections like “Love Me Still” and bonus track “Springtime”, or the heavy organ atmospherics of “He Could Have Known”. Actually, this record is one of those instances when collectors of obscure vinyl are correct—this is worth seeking out. And thanks to Sunbeam Records, now you don’t even have to get covered in dust to do it.

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