Brain Donor

With several cuts from the once import-only Love, Peace & F**k LP and assorted singles (six tracks were featured on the now deleted Too Freud to Rock n’ Roll, Too Jung to Die double album), Brain Donor is the sound of Julian Cope and designated sidemen forming their own idiosyncratic tribute to Krautrock, late-‘60s Detroit hard rock (Stooges, MC5), early ‘70s riff-heavy rock, and lots of transient psychedelic influences that Brain Donor as a band make permanent. Julian Cope manages to channel Iggy Pop without slavishly imitating him. “My Pagan Ass” locomotes with the driving rhythm of pure Detroit rock, the wah-wah beauty of the early Stooges and the command of Raw Power-era Pop. “Like a Motherf**ker” works an unapologetic hard rock attack. “Get Off Your Pretty Face” pounds without restraint. Cope is in search of the pure transcendence from that experimental late ‘60s / early ‘70s era where a nine-minute track such as “Messages” would be considered standard fare. This is hard psychedelic rock played with passion and purpose.