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We begin our journey with the most obvious of choices, the 13th Floor Elevators' "I've Got Levitation," which is not only the inspiration for the namesake of this here blog, but stands as one of the finest of classic late-sixties psychedelic treasures. This is the peak--it don't get better than this, folks. Scorching, pan-fried acid cut with electric jug, upchucked by Dick Dale's schizo stepson onto the garage floor of a Texas looney bin. From the Elevators' second record, Easter Everywhere, considered by many to be their best.


Next up are two bands which share nearly identical names, separated in time by almost three decades. Also from Texas, the Mirrors took up the mantle of the Elevators and other Lone State psychedelic heroes like Mayo Thompson and Sir Doug Sahm in the early '00s, greased up the aesthetic with the trashier side of punk rock and let loose. For a bunch of suburban kids still in their teens, they knew their shit and they did their best to live up to the lofty standards of the influences ripped into their sleeves. But it would all be mere hero worship if not for the fine songwriting of a young Greg Ashley, later a solo act and now of the Gris Gris--all of his work highly recommended. The Mirrors put out their only record, A Green Dream, in 2001; long out of print, it was resurrected by the Birdman label earlier this year. Download "My Lovely Lover" and "Ecstasy" from the sidebar.


Go back in time some twenty-eight years, take the Greyhound 1200 miles northeast to Cleveland, and you could be one of the lucky few to take in a gig by Mirrors (without the "The"). Having played the Cleveland area at least 14 times between '68 and '71, the Velvet Underground's influence can not be overstated on the scene here, from which would also sprout the Styrenes, the Electric Eels and the great Rocket From the Tombs, and later, the Dead Boys and Pere Ubu. Just as a young Jonathan Richman would funnel his Velvets worship into the (almost) equally influential Modern Lovers, so did Jamie Klimek channel his love into Mirrors, fusing hippie psych with Nuggets garage and avant-punk. Until the release of 2001's Hands in My Pockets, a compilation of their seventies recordings, the average joe punk couldn't even hear this stuff--thank you, Overground Records. Read more of Mirrors' story at AMG and download "Everything Near Me" and "Hands in My Pockets" from the sidebar.

Both The Mirrors' A Green Dream and Mirrors' Hands in My Pockets can be obtained at Midheaven.

N/P: Galaxie 500 -- Uncollected Galaxie 500