"FLAT EARTH SOCIETY - WALEECO" (NEW ENGLAND GARAGE PSYCHEDELIC US 1968)

"Flat Earth Society" were a Boston, MA group formed by "Jack Kerivan" (piano, organ, vocals), "Phil Dubuque" (rhythm guitar, recorder, lead vocals), "Rick Doyle" (lead guitar, tambourine, vocals), "Curt Girard" (drums), and "Paul Carter" (bass guitar, vocals).
They recoreded "Waleeco" (Fleetwood FCLP 3027) in 1968, a moody Teen Psychedelic LP, originally sold as a marketing device for candy bars!


(Flat Earth Society were approached by the Boston advertising firm Quinn and Johnson to make an album and a jingle for the manufacturer of the 'Waleeco' candy bar - the F. B. "Washburn Candy Company". That year every 'Waleeco' bar carried a coupon advertising the Flat Earth Society's album 'Waleeco' for $1.50 and six 'Waleeco' bar wrappers).
There's three tracks with an outstanding flowing melodic West-Coast feel and acid guitar runs, also some downer introspections, and a few longer instrumental passages which show obvious ambitions.

The only non-original is a unique deconstruction of "Midnight Hour".
"Portrait Of Grey" goes on a couple of minutes too long, while "Satori" is an unexpectedly atmospheric 'peak time' instrumental with sitars and backwards masking.

Recorded at "Fleetwood Recording Studio" in Revere, most of the material was written by Kerivan, the only non-original being a slow melodic version of "Midnight Hour".

"Flat Earth Society - Waleeco" covers quite a wide rock spectrum with Beatles-"Paul McCartney"-goodtime ("I'm So Happy"), Folk-Rock ("When You're There and The Prelude For Town Monk"), Hard-Rock ("Four & Twenty Miles and Shadows"), as well as Psychedelia, but each track has the band's own style about it.
Aside from "Feelin' Much Better", the BEST tracks are arguably on the second side of the album.

"Dark Street Downtown" has some haunting vocals superimposed upon swirling piano.
"Portrait In Grey" is a haunting piano-oriented instrumental and "Satori", a very strange Psychedelic instrumental.

"Flat Earth Society" made a few appearances after making "Waleeco" album but broke up soon after.

"Flat Earth Society" plays with "Jordan Amplifier".

Produced by "Bobby Herne" also with "THE EUCLID - HEAVY EQUIPMENT" (SUPERB PSYCHEDELIC HARD-ROCK US 1970).