THE BUCKTHRUSTERS on Fresh Sounds from Middle America - psychedelic when you wouldn’t expect it

 

In 1981 the people from Fresh Sounds, a tape label based in Lawrence, Kansas, sent me a cassette-only release entitled “FRESH SOUNDS FROM MIDDLE AMERICA” featuring artists like The C. Lucas Experience, Monte Montclaire or Color Entertainment. They didn’t do much for me.  The band featured foremost on side 1 of the cassette was a 5-piece called THE BUCKTHRUSTERS, obviously from Kansas also. The were recorded at Skeels studio in Wichita, Kansas, and they were kind of a novelty unit then as their instrumentation was without guitar, but prominently featured an accordian alongside keyboards, synths and a bass’n’drums rhythm section. Mind, this was 1981 and no comparison to these days when a flute quartet would play Death Metal or a bunch of nosepipers would do the Grunge. The Buckthrusters were so out of line and unique, I couldn’t but fall in love with them. They were droning, they were intense, they were psychedelic in the true sense of the word, and they had the Rock beat. “The Drive” is passion galore, while “The Moment” swings along nicely. The Buckthrusters’ sound has remained exclusive and exceptional even 40 years later… but brief was their moment of fame.    

01 THE BUCKTHRUSTERS  -  Blu Lite Special     02 THE BUCKTHRUSTERS  -  And It Is     03 THE BUCKTHRUSTERS  -  The Drive     04 THE BUCKTHRUSTERS  -  The Moment     05 THE BUCKTHRUSTERS  -  Ha! Ha!