Schibbinz: Livin’ Free

Schibbinz
Livin' Free
Guerssen
2010-01-05

In the world of private press collectors, this jangly Zombies-gone-basement 1968 album from U.S./Argentine teen folk/garage quartet Schibbinz went virtually unknown until just a few years ago, when CD-R copies burned from a dubbed cassette copy of the incredibly hard-to-find original vinyl edition began making the rounds amongst the most elitist circles of record hounds. As a matter of fact, given the case of its extreme scarcity, it was believed the recording might be a fake, something released by an indie pop band within the last 20 years mistaken for Schibbinz, or even something akin to the Masked Marauders fiasco of the 1970s. However, Guerssen Records was able to track down a couple of the original members of the band, who provided them with a near-mint copy of Livin’ Free by which the label remastered the original tracks in addition to a trio of previously unreleased songs from the initial recording sessions back in 1967, including covers of Them’s “Gloria” and the Beatles’ “This Boy” (renamed “Ringo’s Theme” here). If you are a fan of obscure private press nuggets, Schibbinz is definitely up your alley.

RATING 6 / 10