So, the question is – does it actually suck? I’m not sure. I do know Time to Suck is a really ramshackle, not-give-a-damn affair, and a big part of the reason for that is the surrounding environment it was created in. Apartheid South Africa. Apparently, in the late 60’s and early 70’s, there was a semblance of a psychedelic pop/rock scene there, but because of the prevailing oppressive political climate, Lord knows what happened to the artist who dared defy the accepted norms….From the few things I have read about it, more than likely there just was not any room given to these bands to ply their trade…which is where the brief story of Suck fits in. These guys were together less than a year, had barely any original songs in their set list, but I am guessing their very presence – and name alone – was enough to stir the pot in South Africa at that point and time. The songs collected here are all covers with one exception – an original called “The Whip” – but all of them are delivered with reckless abandon, as if the very point of the album is the band exists to play these songs in the first place, and at the loudest, most ear-splitting volume possible. To give you an indication of where their heads were at – there are two covers from the Grand Funk Closer to Home record (“Aimless Lady” and “Sin’s a Good Man’s Brother”) – and in some respects, they make GFR’s power trio act seem pretty limp, in comparison. But elsewhere, they really do render classier tracks like “21st Century Schizoid Man” and “Season of the Witch” to writhing, bloody pulps, which is mildly interesting, if you are into – you know – turning good music into odd, un-listenable, science experiments which should have been left on the cutting room floor. And so it goes for the rest of the album, although “The Whip” is an admitted curio for me – I do wonder how this crazy bunch of outcasts would have made out under better circumstances, but we will never know. Repackaged editions include a cover of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs”, which is odd only because of the tribal-sounding drums throughout, and the histrionics of the lead singer. Overall, just some weird stuff, including that questionable album cover.
Comments