Who is Paul Giovanni i hear you asking.......or maybe not....hes the chap behind the music on The Wicker Man soundtrack,and some great haunting sounds there were too!!!!Whats Side Show?This is a group he was in who released this self titled sole album in 1970.Whats this album like then?Its no bad actually and a lot of the songs are written by Paul Giovanni and co-writes with the other members of the group which was a foursome with added studio sessioneers,in fact Paul Giovanni is the main vocalist and those who have heard The Wicker Man soundtrack may recognise his voice straight away!!All tracks have something in them to prick the ears up,i have saw this described as a pop/psych album....mmmmm........maybe not,some of it is just a bit left field imo and straight pop to be a pop psych thingy!!It has discordant strings and some folky sounds.So are there psych sounds on this then?Yes there is you have a track like "the Duel"which is a kinda strange piece of psych what with the early use of synth sounds and groovy sounds of guitar and stuff....tracks like "Cold Coffee,Carolyn,The Pill and Ah!"are real decent pieces of pop but in truth i dont hear much psych in there,"Joanna"is a lovely number with echoed vocals some stirring organ and beautiful acoustics with eerie synth noises and violin in the background 4 and a half minutes of magic....."Jinx"is again a pop number with a jazzy touch,not my thing to be honest,"Supper"is a rather jaunty feel good number which i like very much,but again a decent pop track with a groovy 60s sounding middle section,"Rooster"is nowt special imo,then the final number"Joe"again a lovely expansive pop track that could chill out a manic wombat......some neat electric guitar in there too with good harmony vocals and tinny organ...again 4 and a half minutes of lovely pop!!!
In summary i wouldnt fall for the descriptions of this being a pop/psych album,i agree its a unconventional pop album,pop with something a bit different going on...if you heard it ya would know what i meant!!In general not a great album,i would be lying if i said it was,but a no bad listen it is,but if you've an interest in Paul Giovanni because of The Wicker Man,this shows him in a unsettling pop setting and interesting it is too!! Worth the fiver i picked it up for and released by boot label Kismet!!