The Fuzztones - Braindrops (Remastered) (2015)

This New York City-based psychedelic/garage rock combo played a large role in the mostly underground '60s revival during the 1980s. Led by the enigmatic Rudi Protrudi, the Fuzztones were one of the major "successes" (particularly in Europe) of the revival that flourished in 1984 and that also boasted the Chesterfield Kings, the Cynics, the Miracle Workers, and Plasticland. Their debut studio LP, Lysergic Emanations, was released in 1985. Thanks to praise from Ian Astbury of the Cult, the newly refitted Los Angeles-based Fuzztones were one of the few to get a major-label deal, and a second album, In Heat, was released by Beggars Banquet in 1989. Due to the album's lackluster sales performance, the Fuzztones went back to the indies. That might have been the end of the story, but it wasn't. Thanks to a hugely successful tour of Europe in 1985, the group built a loyal and dedicated fan base there, and one version or another of the Fuzztones has toured there regularly ever since. Their over three-decade career has yielded at least a dozen or more albums, countless singles, and several videos, and Lysergic Emanations has been re-released by at least three different labels over the years. In 2011, to celebrate their 30th anniversary, the band released a new studio album, Preaching to the Perverted, on Stag-O-Lee/Cleopatra. ~ Matt Carlson & Steve Leggett