‘Pseudo-Funk’: the psych-garage anthem that took 50 years to release
In the modern musical landscape of streaming services and online shopping, it can often feel as though every song ever recorded is at your fingertips. While, for the most part, the advent of instantly available music is hardly something to complain about, it is easy to miss the days of record collecting, tape trading and digging through crates of vinyl in the hopes of discovering something new. Even today, however, there are many fantastic bands and records out there, recorded decades ago, just waiting to be discovered. One such track that was recently unearthed is ‘Pseudo-Funk’ by the little-known garage rock outfit Gin.
The garage rock scene of the 1960s was, in many ways, the original wave of punk rock. After the clean-cut rockabilly of the 1950s, the scene was in dire need of a shake-up, and it received one at the hands of adolescent rebels, creating fuzzy recordings to be published through independent labels. This exciting new music scene was largely contained to the Northern United States, with the industrial landscape of places like Detroit proving to be a natural breeding ground for the abrasive DIY sounds of garage rock.
Of course, the scene would go on to be defined by popular acts like The Kingsmen or The Trashmen, but they barely scratched the surface of the garage rock iceberg. Most of the groups in the scene played simplistic, distorted rock and roll, but others managed to incorporate these sounds with the likes of funk, Motown and even jazz. Gin were one such band, blending the world of garage rock with far-out psychedelic sounds and the distinctive groove of funk.
Even if you are an aficionado of garage rock, it is unlikely that you’ve ever previously heard of Gin. Indeed, very little is known about the group even today. When were they formed? Where were they from? It is all unknown. We do know that the group was led by singer John Bennett and guitarist Lon Reeder, but almost everything else is up for interpretation. Only five years ago, Gin mainly existed in the memories of those who were in the band all those years ago.
That remained the case until the band’s music was unearthed and resurrected by the German record label Perfect Toy Records. The Munich-based label has dedicated itself to rediscovering forgotten garage rock for years, but they certainly struck gold with Gin. In 2019, the label featured two tracks by the garage rock innovators, entitled ‘Louisville Luck’ and ‘Pseudo-Funk’, on volumes three and four of their Down In The Valley compilation. Later, these tracks were released in their own right on a seven-inch single, over 50 years from when they were recorded.
Speaking to Far Out about the discovery, Stef from Perfect Toy shared, “I got in contact with the band leader through the Morning Reign album, which I re-released some years ago,” explaining, “I really liked both tracks, so I decided to put out a 45. Besides the 45, both tracks are featured on two separate volumes in the Down In The Valley series, Vol.3 and Vol.4.”
So, why did it take so long for this incredible track to reach the public? Stef hypothesised, “As with so many other artists from back in those days, not everything a band recorded got released, and that’s how it was with the Gin tracks.” Music fans can now hear the innovative garage rock anthems at will, but it does open up the possibility that there are many more tracks from that period waiting to be discovered, just like ‘Pseudo-Funk’.
