Album of the Day

Few groups had names as descriptive of their music as the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band. If PART ONE's lysergic cover isn't a giveaway, the WCPAEB was at ground zero when psychedelia hit Los Angeles, and the sextet's February 1967 Reprise debut perfectly presages the Summer of Love. Folk-rock, garage and baroque pop sounds rub shoulders on these 11 tracks, which include covers of songs by L.A. scene favorites Van Dyke Parks, P.F. Sloan and the Mothers of Invention along with such strong originals as “Shifting Sands,” “Transparent Day” and “I Won't Hurt You” (recently tapped for the soundtrack to Wes Anderson's Isle of Dogs). Strange and catchy at the same time, the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band's PART ONE captures the spirit of an era when anything seemed possible.