Fellow power-pop/garage guru and old friend, Matthew Melton, has been in the game for quite some time now. All of Melton’s projects, Snakeflower 2, Bare Wires, and Warm Soda, have their place in the garage scene here in the States. This compilation reaches into the vault of songs that eventually turned up on early Bare Wires, Snakeflower 2 and the short lived Nectarine Pie releases. Some tracks are seeing the light of day for the first time.

The opening track “Images on the Sand” immediately takes me back to the more psychedelic tones of Snakeflower 2, a band that I always thought never quite got the recognition it deserved. This record sort of peeks into Melton’s brain and gives you an up close and personal view of his thought process. There isn’t a single track of filler in this bunch. I was also pleased to hear the early incarnation of “Are You Taking Her Home,” a track that was later re-recorded and released on the first self-titled Bare Wires LP, a record that was produced by the late Memphis punk legend, Jay Reatard.

-Justin Crumpton