Electric Cool Acid

The first release by White Heaven, but not their debut album; Electric Cool Acid was self-released on cassette in 1988 before eventually getting bumped to CD, then digital. Documenting a gig from 1987, it’s a great way to latch onto what made this Japanese group so great, and the versions of classic songs here, like “My Cold Dimention,” regularly best later studio versions. In the weird constellation that was Japanese underground psych-rock, White Heaven were always the most rock-reverent – their best songs sound like something the sixties San Fran hive mind collectively dreamt – though Electric Cool Acid proves they could play those songs at a pretty fierce clip, something the lo-fi quality of the recording amplifies. Towering above it all is guitarist Michio Kurihara, whose playing, in a post-Cipollina style, is sublime at every turn.