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Tomorrow - Tomorrow CD (album) cover

TOMORROW

Tomorrow

 

Proto-Prog

3.06 | 75 ratings

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siLLy puPPy
Special Collaborator
PSIKE, JRF/Canterbury, P Metal, Eclectic
4 stars TOMORROW was one of many British bands that jumped ship from the swinging freakbeat scene of mid-60s London only to ride the magic bus into the world of psychedelic pop rock that even won the sanctioned approval of DJ John Peel who featured them on his "Perfumed Garden" radio show. While the group found little in terms of commercial success during their brief moment in the sun, the band's sole eponymously titled album has become somewhat of a cult classic with some even claiming it to be the the most outstanding example of the late 60s psychedelic rock scene with its diversity traversing though eleven pop standards taking more than a cue from The Beatles and sprucing them up with the en vogue plethora of reverb, acid rock accouterments as well as faux Indo-raga touches. The band seemed to tackle everything from the absurd to the lysergically detached.

Steeped in the freakbeat sensibilities that developed while the band was still known as The In-Crowd and before that as Four Plus One, TOMORROW which consisted of Keith West (vocals), John Wood (bass), John "Twink" Adler (drums), Mark P. Writz (keyboard) and a young Steve Howe (guitar) got their start by recording songs for the soundtrack of the film "Blowup" in 1966 which went absolutely nowhere and with the sudden interest in all things trippy, the band changed their name to TOMORROW and channeled their energies to the latest rage in the music world, that of psychedelic and acid rock and soon found themselves side by side with some other firsts in the scene by the names of Pink Floyd, Soft Machine and even played with Jimi Hendrix at London's infamous UFO Club. This was quite the distracted band though and despite having recorded the album in early spring of 1967 didn't find a release until February 1968 as the psychedelic freakery in the pop rock scene was starting to come down, burn out and taper off.

The fate of TOMORROW's success seemed to be on shaky grounds from the getgo since after signing with EMI the band failed to attract the attention of Pink Floyd producer Norman Smith and instead opted for the erratic attention of Mark P. Writz, who not only contributed his keyboard skills to the TOMORROW lineup but was also heavily steeped and literally obsessed with his own project "A Teenage Opera." This, along with the band's fondness for LSD and massive touring schedule all conspired to keep the project from hitting the market during the height of the psychedelic Summer of Love. Despite being one of the first of the British bands to jump on to the bandwagon of all things psychedelic, the album was unfortunately one of the last to join the party and had it would have to sit on the shelves a few decades before anyone would really dig it up and evaluate its relevance on the late 60s scene but time has been kind and the album has found a continuous source of new interest.

A major part of the charm of TOMORROW's sole release is that it is extremely eclectic and instantly accessible with one hook after another creating instant ear worms all dressed up with the sizzling psychedelic acidity that the 60s had to offer. There is the backward guitar intro that ushers in the lead single and first track "My White Bicycle" a seemingly anthemic rocker reminiscent of The Who inspired by the white bicycle movement in 1960s Amsterdam. There is also the cod Indo-raga sitar saturation of "Real Life Permanent Dream" as well as three showtune sounding tracks "Auntie Mary's Dress Shop," "Colonel Brown" and "Shy Boy" which originally intended for the "Teenage Opera" were reassigned their psychedelic duties and dispersed liberally throughout the album. Having emerged only the year after The Beatles' resounding "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club," the Beatles influences are not only explicitly delivered but gleefully celebrated as the band throws in the unfortunate throwaway cover of "Strawberry Fields Forever" taken from the prior year's "Magical Mystery Tour."

Despite the influences, it seems as though TOMORROW may have had something to offer the Fab Four in return as they recorded a single called "Revolution" a year before The Beatles own famous track on "The White Album." Despite the psychedelic nature of the album as a whole, TOMORROW still found room for the ultimate whimsy with cute little fairy tales such as "Three Jolly Little Dwarfs" which takes the freakbeat gusto to its logical conclusions and shows how the musicians were becoming too skilled to remain confined within the confinement of pop music. Steve Howe displays moments of guitar virtuosity that hint at the years ahead in full prog rock mode with Yes and Twink Adler likewise displays an apt for harder edge percussive drives that he would finally find a home in The Pink Fairies. While some songs seem a little out of character for the psychedelic rock scene, some sound like they were tailor made for it. The closing "Hallucinations" is a snappy little guitar driven song that celebrates the miracle of rainbows and all things lysergia and the perfect closer for a multifarious yet tightly constructed musical experience.

While TOMORROW's main contemporaries such as Pink Floyd would go on to superstardom and Soft Machine would become an underground symbol of prog rock cult legends, TOMORROW itself failed to generate much fanfare in its short time in the psychedelic sun yet managed to play in an amazing number of live settings. Perhaps a bit too pop for the true acid freaks and a bit too out there for fans of mainstream pop, TOMORROW cleverly skirted the cracks in between and managed to connect the bouncy feel good vibe of the early 60s with the flower power drop acid and drop out counterculture of the hippies. While more known for the future greats that would gestate during this moment in time, TOMORROW's sole album is actually quite an interesting little romp in the psych fueled pop anthems of the latter part of the 60s British Invasion. The rest is history. Steve Howe would pay a few more dues in Bodast before joining Yes, Twink would join The Pretty Things and Pink Fairies and Keith West would eventually join Moonrider. Mark Writz would become more famous for NOT finishing his opera than anything else. In the end, this is an interesting and addictive slice of late 60s British pop dressed up in rainbows and psychotomimetic minutia.

siLLy puPPy | 4/5 |

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